Low Energy and Solar Panels…

When you think of ‘low energy’ homes, there could be a number of ideas or concepts that come to mind.

Perhaps low energy is thought to mean minimal energy consumption in the home after it has been built and is lived in. Another way to think about it could be the energy used in producing all the building materials ( generally considered as the embodied energy of the building). The concept of a Passive House is often understood and valued to be a low energy home due to the scientific calculations taken into consideration during the design and build of the home, which minimises the need for seasonal heating and cooling.

However one important thing to remember is that no matter how well we build our homes in an effort to reduce energy consumption, our current modern day lifestyles will dictate to us how much we will come to rely on solar panels as a way to keep our energy bill costs down in our homes. When we think of all the appliances we have come to rely on such as ovens, range hoods, stove tops, fridges, freezers, washing machines , dryers, computers, tvs, heat recovery ventilation (HRV)units, hot water, charging stations for phones, coffee machines, food processors….and many ,many more…..energy is consumed at an increasing rate.

Aside from choosing appliances that have a low energy consumption design and also reducing number of appliances that are used in a home, we are very fortunate here in Australia that we can make use of Solar panels to balance the cost of our personal energy consumption in our homes.

We encourage all our clients to include solar panels into the design of their home, whilst reminding them that the health and comfort of the homes at the forefront of our building values.