Essentials: Take The Heat Off

Keep your cool this summer in energy-efficient ways that won’t hit your back pocket

- Kate Barber

With our days getting hotter and our summers longer, it’s time to turn your mind to how to keep cool without running up your energy bill. Independent energy adviser Tim Forcey says there are lots of actions you can take and the gains are huge. “You could reduce your carbon footprint from the cooling perspective to a tenth of what it used to be,” he says. Mahalath Halperin, director of Mahalath Halperin Architects, is already reaping the benefits of the sustainable home she designed. “People say it’s expensive but for the slight premium we paid to build this we’re going to save $200,000 over the next 25 years in the heating, cooling, and energy,” she says.

INSULATION AND SHADING

One of the first things to do is to check your insulation. “I go up into a lot of roof spaces and find the insulation is strewn all over the place,” says Tim. “It’s often because somebody went up there to change a light bulb or work on the NBN or fix a water leak and they moved all the insulation out of place.”

Another easy home cooling tip is to shade your windows. “Start with the outside so you don’t let the heat come into the home in the first place,” says Amelia Taylor, head of product at Wynstan. When the sun does manage to get in, ‘cellular’ or ‘honeycomb’ blinds can help. “The heat goes into an air pocket and it sits there in a circular motion and it doesn’t come through the other side of the fabric,” explains Amelia.

WINDOWS 101