| Energy Efficient home design
In 1986 I visited the Milton Keynes Energy World exhibition and I was
very impressed with the energy savings that could be achieved with a
carefully designed house.
So therefore, I had a bungalow built that was safe and highly energy efficient.
I also wanted to avoid the
potential hazards associated with timber frame properties so therefore the
property is of conventional construction.
In December 1989 the new 230 sq metre bungalow that was
custom designed for maximum energy efficiency and low running
costs was completed. Electricity rather than gas was chosen as it is safer, more
reliable, does not have annual maintenance costs and is cheaper.
To minimise running costs, intelligent slim-line electric night
storage heaters were installed. I used a computer model to compare the heat
loss of the previous home to the new bungalow to determine where energy
savings could be made using the right materials during construction. The
end result was that a three phase supply was avoided and only
small storage heaters were needed in each room.
The many energy efficiency features of our
property are:
- Polystyrene insulation under the concrete floor slab.
- Thick carpets and underlay.
- Engineering quality hard bricks.
- Thermalite high performance trenchblocks for the foundations.
- 130mm insulating lightweight concrete blocks for the internal walls.
- 75mm wall cavity filled with mineral wool insulation.
- Double glazed hardwood stained windows with kappafloat glass.
- Fully draught proofed with no fireplace or chimney.
- Mechanical ventilation and heat recovery system.
- Foil backed plasterboard on the ceiling.
- 200mm of fibreglass loft insulation.
- Primary rooms facing south, then east and west.
- Few small windows facing north.
- Fluorescent lighting throughout.
- Sophisticated computer controlled system using X-10 modules
supplied by Smarthomel and X-10
Activehome and HomeSeer
software.
- Unobtrusive sophisticated mains/battery burglar alarm system; no
details will be provided here.
Low maintenance was achieved by using:
- Stained hardwood windows.
- White UPVC soffits and bargeboards outside.
- White UPVC skirting boards, window boards and alcatraves inside.
I would like to express my thanks to the
following companies who have ensured the success of this project:
- Southern Electric Contracting Limited
For advice and all kinds of help on energy efficiency and electrical
control matters and providing a skilled electrician who did the wiring
of the computer controlled X-10 system.
- X-10 Europe and Home Controls plc
Who supplied prototype X-10 evaluation units prior to their general
availability, and gave me access to their developers for technical
queries during my evaluation.
- Butterley Bricks, part of Hanson Group
Who offered helpful advice and told me to take whatever free samples I
needed from their brick store. Because they were so helpful, they
received the brick order.
-
Flebu Ltd, Oxford
Who provided the excellent mechanical ventilation and heat
recovery system and willing after sales service.
- Axminster Carpet Company, Devon
Who make great hard wearing carpets that are expensive, but worth
every penny.
- The Electrician
Les, who took meticulous care over everything and did an excellent job for
us. I can recommend a good electrician if you need one in Hampshire.
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