Save thousands on heating and cooling - with brainpower

This is the second post in a series on permaculture principles.

In my last post, I discussed how to extend your growing season, and the importance of having good access to sunwise light (northern direction axis in the southern hemisphere; southern direction axis in the northern hemisphere).

These tricks are also invaluable for selecting a house to live in, and can make a massive difference to how much you spend in heating and cooling costs.

Our house, which is long and thin with a long, north-facing axis, has heating bills one third of those of our neighbours, whose house points in the opposite direction.

We pay an average of $150 per bill on heating over winter; they pay about $450, and as much as $600.

Both houses are absolutely identical. They were purpose built rentals by our landlady, and are exactly the same plan, with the same insulation, windows, and size.

The difference is our house faces the sun, with the long axis of the house facing sunwise.

Home design is important too!

Two of the three bedrooms, plus the main living area, all face towards the north, and get great sun from dawn to dusk. This means we need to use the heater minimally. The sun does the job of warming our home for us.

In cool climates, where heating is the largest part of your electricity bill, this is exactly what you want - a home where the long axis faces north.

And the fewer south-facing windows you have, the better. Any south facing window you have should ideally be well-dressed, with thick blinds, pelmets and/or curtains.

If you get a chance to design a home yourself, aim for having your living areas and bedrooms on the sunwise side of the home (north in the southern hemisphere; south in the northern hemisphere), with bathroom, laundry, garage (if under main roof) and utility rooms on the south side making up the balance of the house.

Then there are simple common-sense issues in design, such as kitchen and dining room windows never pointing west, as these rooms are used right at the time the sun sets, and sun blindness can be a real problem.

Hot climates

In a hot climate, north/south facing homes are also better for heating and cooling. It is especially important to find homes with as few west windows as possible, as the afternoon sun in the west really heats the home dramatically and can add a lot to cooling costs.

In my first home in Melbourne, we added an interior blind to our west facing bathroom, and an exterior awning to our west-facing exterior, both of which dropped the interior temperature by upwards of five degrees. The awning only cost about $40 - I'd say it was money well spent!

In hot climates, pergolas with deciduous vines that lose their leaves in winter to let sunshine through but keep the home cool in summer are also ideal. In my home town of Adelaide, grape vines are popular, with the added advantage of yummy grapes just outside the window in summer.

Colours make a difference too. Dark roofs and exterior walls will make a home warmer, and light colours will cool. High ceilings in hot climates will enable warm air to rise, but in cold climates high ceilinged rooms can cost a fortune to heat, and be cold and forbidding places to live in. In my home town of Dunedin, most of the large mansions built in our gold-rush era have now been split into apartments and student units, largely because the heating bills became unaffordable.

All this isn't rocket science

None of these tricks are really hard. They just require a bit of brainpower, and planning ahead. Even the most poorly situated home can be improved with a bit of thinking, and the use of permaculture principles like those discussed above. But the ideal time for saving dollars is before you move to your next home.

When you house hunt, check which direction is sunwise (north in the southern hemisphere; south in the northern hemisphere). This is the direction you want the longest axis of the home to face, with rooms such as living, master bedroom etc. facing the sun. Take the time to check how many windows face away from the sun (south in the southern hemisphere; north in the northern hemisphere). These rooms and windows will be cold, and will cost you a lot to heat. And make sure that the kitchen window doesn't face due west!

By taking a compass with you when you house hunt, and learning a bit about permaculture with a great little guide such as any of Bill Mollison's books on the subject, you can make a huge difference to your power budget - and comfort - for decades to come. This is one subject it is worth learning about.
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