Building or renovating?

It’s well worth taking the time to work out the right number and positions for your lights and powerpoints.  Your home will be a safer and more convenient place to live in.

We’ve put together some room-by-room suggestions for your lighting and powerpoint plan in the table below:

If you’re reading this before designing your new home, your timing is perfect. Starting from scratch gives you the opportunity to maximise your energy efficiency and reduce your energy bills. There are plenty of good reasons to create an energy efficient home. For starters, it makes your home bright and comfortable all year round. It also means you could be reducing your energy use from day one. And that helps to limit your impact on the environment, as well as saving you money. 

Selecting the best block of land

Holding out for an ideally orientated block is a wise investment.

•  The ideal block is one that is longer in the east-west direction, and shorter in the north-west direction.
• Choose a block that isn’t overshadowed to the north by any buildings, large trees or fences. Having clear access to the north is sometimes called ‘solar access’.

Where should I put my windows?

You can help keep your home cool in summer, and warm in winter, by placing your windows in practical locations.

North

Try and locate most of your windows on the north side of your home. It’s easy to protect them from the summer sun with eaves, or pergolas.

East or West

If you can help it, avoid facing your windows east and west. In winter they won’t receive enough sunlight to let in warmth. And on hot summer days they get morning and afternoon sun, making it harder to keep your home cool. If you can’t get by without east or west facing windows, try to keep them small or position them under a veranda or car port.

South

Because south facing windows aren’t in direct sunlight, they can cause your home to lose heat on cold winter days.
So try to make south facing windows small, and position them for cross-ventilation in each room.

Here are some other things to consider when planning your windows:

• Help warm your home by making sure your eaves are the right size to let winter sun through your windows.
•  Think about the placement and design of pergolas, so they don’t block out warm winter sun.
•  Install curtains or blinds on the inside of your windows, especially the large ones, to stop winter heat loss. Use good quality curtains with close-fitting pelmets, or pleated blinds that fit inside the windows.
• To create cross-ventilation, place opening windows opposite each other in the room – and take full advantage of a cool change at the end of a hot summer day.

Insulation can save you money all year round as it can keep your home warm in winter and cool in summer, by:

• Blocking out heat from the sun during summer.
• Stopping heat escaping from your home during winter.

Your ceiling is the first place you should start with insulation. Wall insulation could also be worthwhile, depending on how your home is constructed.

Using high thermal mass construction materials

High thermal mass materials help keep your home at a comfortable, even temperature. They do this by:

• Being slow to heat up and slow to cool down.
• Releasing heat after sunset in winter, to keep your house warm.
• Stopping summer sun from entering your home, to keep your home cool during the day.

Taking advantage of cool breezes

Get some welcome relief from cool changes at the end of hot summer days, by remembering:

• Cool sea breezes come from the south-west.
• If you don’t have west-facing windows, you can let cool air into your home through south-facing windows.
• If possible design every room for cross-ventilation – either by placing a door and a window opposite each other, or two windows opposite one another.
• You can cool your home by keeping some windows open all night in summer. Screens can give you security and stop insects from coming in.

• In addition to external eaves or pergolas, trees and shrubs can be strategically placed to improve the comfort of your home.
• Don’t cover north facing windows from the winter sun.  Plant deciduous trees instead of evergreen trees on the north side of your home, because they shade your home in summer, but drop leaves in winter.
• Use trees and shrubs to reduce summer heat gain through your east and west walls.
• Tall evergreen trees on the west side of your home give you shade from hot afternoon sun, but allow sea-breezes to flow underneath.
• Take into account the fully-grown height and width of the trees you plant.
• Don't plant trees so close to your house that branches can fall on your roof in storms.
• Don't plant trees near power lines.
• Latticework with vines is an attractive alternative in places where you haven't got the space for trees or shrubs.
• If cold winter winds are a problem in your area, plant a windbreak.
• The south side of the house will be shaded all winter and most of spring and autumn, so plant shade-tolerant or seasonal plants in that area. 
   
  

  Outdoor living areas

• The best outdoor living areas are on the north and east sides.  The south side of the house is often cold, dark and damp in winter and the west side is very hot on summer afternoons.
• A veranda on the east side can protect walls from the summer morning sun.
• Be careful not to block the northern windows with covered pergolas.  If you need a northern pergola for summer shade, consider purchasing one with angled slats that allows winter sunshine to penetrate but completely shades the ground in summer. Or you can use shade-cloth on your pergola in summer and simply roll it back up in winter.
• Avoid paving directly in front of the north windows, as the bricks will reflect heat into the house in summer.
• Remember to leave a sunny spot for your clothesline.