Heating on these cold days

This Saturday is World Environment day so a perfect time to think about what we can do to make a difference to the environment.

On these cold Winter evenings I sit in our lounge room very warm and toasty thanks to our wonderful gas central heating system. However there are a few energy related issues with it. For one the system is old and can't be zoned so heating one room means heating the whole house when often this is not needed, not very efficient or sustainable. Secondly, though the living areas are warm, especially the North facing family room, the front bedroom is cold, due to obvious drafts and very poor window insulation. Thirdly once the heater is switched off it doesn't take long for the house to loose heat.

So in our renovation and house extension, we are looking at how we can improve our heating efficiency by buying a 5 star central heating system that can be zoned, plus use the heater as little as possible by putting in good insulation - double glazed windows with good window coverings, high ratings on wall and ceiling insulation (this is where you loose the most heat).

Proposed new weatherboard extension - old brick will be removed also

Insulation is key for us too as currently our house has a brick casing which helps but this casing is going and old weatherboard houses are notoriously bad for insulation - something we will need to fix.