Cheap ways to cool a house??
- Thread starter burty85
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You could try insulation. $1600 government rebate at the moment.
Lighter tiles should make a difference but I'm not sure how much difference. We had our tiles resprayed this year and cost us 4k, but that was brown over brown so I'm not sure if going lighter would be more expensive.
Ceiling fans, plants, good blinds/curtains, changing windows to catch more breeze, tinting, verandahs are all things I can think of - I guess it just depends on the house as to what is possible.
Lighter tiles should make a difference but I'm not sure how much difference. We had our tiles resprayed this year and cost us 4k, but that was brown over brown so I'm not sure if going lighter would be more expensive.
Ceiling fans, plants, good blinds/curtains, changing windows to catch more breeze, tinting, verandahs are all things I can think of - I guess it just depends on the house as to what is possible.
why so much, is it a big roof?
Um, I'm not sure Bill. The first quote I had was 10k! The final quote also included some capping work, though the roof was in reasonable condition. Mr Minx tells me the floor area is about 230 sqm - I just went and dug up the invoice but it doesn't give a size of the roof area.
G'Day Burty
Is there a whirlybird in the roof?
You can buy these quite cheaply from Bunnings, DIY installation.
A tiles roof has a fair bit of air movement anyway but the hot air still need to be evacuated efficiently otherwise even with roof space insulation the ceilings will eventually heat up and the heat radiates into the rooms below.
We have evaporative cooling here in Melbourne but this would have little or no benefit in a more humid atmosphere.
Are you able to open your windows at floor level to create an upward draft of cooler air, drawn in from earth level? Do you have security doors so that the house doors can be left open at night? If you have front and back security doors this will enable air movement through the house without having eg street lights shining into bedrooms, although there may be an increase of sound infiltration you would probably get used to this quite quickly.
One of the first things we do in a new house is to fit cabin latches so that all doors can be held back without hazards such as shoes jammed under them, and so that doors don't slam shut. At least there is some air movement after dark - even it is still hot at least it is fresh air.
Not all ceilings are high enough to safely install ceiling fans, and you don't need any more humidity, so hope this passive ventilation idea helps
Cheers
Kristine
Is there a whirlybird in the roof?
You can buy these quite cheaply from Bunnings, DIY installation.
A tiles roof has a fair bit of air movement anyway but the hot air still need to be evacuated efficiently otherwise even with roof space insulation the ceilings will eventually heat up and the heat radiates into the rooms below.
We have evaporative cooling here in Melbourne but this would have little or no benefit in a more humid atmosphere.
Are you able to open your windows at floor level to create an upward draft of cooler air, drawn in from earth level? Do you have security doors so that the house doors can be left open at night? If you have front and back security doors this will enable air movement through the house without having eg street lights shining into bedrooms, although there may be an increase of sound infiltration you would probably get used to this quite quickly.
One of the first things we do in a new house is to fit cabin latches so that all doors can be held back without hazards such as shoes jammed under them, and so that doors don't slam shut. At least there is some air movement after dark - even it is still hot at least it is fresh air.
Not all ceilings are high enough to safely install ceiling fans, and you don't need any more humidity, so hope this passive ventilation idea helps
Cheers
Kristine
I'm about to spray my roof myself.
So unable to tell you if this will make a cooler house.
Checkout nutech paints website and they have a new paint with teflon
guaranteed to cool the roof cavity. (NXT coolzone)
Your biggest problem will be trying to workout which paint manufacture and who to spray it.
After all my investigating I have decided to spray myself as the roof is just over 300sq metres and would cost to much to replace or have someone else do it for me.
I have employed someone to redo the pointing as this is a bit of an art to do.
Preparation is the key before any spraying and final topcoats.
What condition are the roof tiles in,are they cement or terracotta.
Its not a simple process as the roof restorer companies suggest.
I had to purchase a few old tiles to replace a few chipped and went to the
local secound hand building material yard and found many cement tiles which
had been painted previously and all peeling. I took one of these tiles to
nutech paints in Sydney and they advised me why this had happened and
again it all came down to prep and the wrong sealer being applied.
Do not believe anyone that claims there paint is self priming.
You need a sealer or primer depending on your condition of the tiles
then two coats of top coat.
A roof should not be painted in one day.
Nutech have told me to spray the primer then leave until the following day
for first coat and then the next day for final coat.
I have just spent 3 days cleaning my roof with a petrol powered water
blaster which used 15 litres of petrol and almost emptied my 10000 litre tank of water.
Almost forgot most companies and equipment hires only have available
the airless spray equipment with a 317 spray tip and I have been advised
by nutech to use a 523 tip.
There are insulating paints available that will help cool the roof. A friend applied this to his warehouse roof and reckoned the temperature drop was obvious. Combined with insulation this should help. Whirlybirds will help vent hot air.
A lot of heat enters through windows. Investigate solar window films, external blinds, awnings, or even the use of bushes (though NOT too close to the house). The aim is to keep the direct sun from heating the glass.
Cross ventilation helps enormously, but obviously you are restricted to the present floor plan. There WAS a reason that Queenslander houses had the central passage running straight through the middle of the house, also open grilles above doors - great cross-ventilation. Dreadful feng shui, but very practical in the tropics.
Ceiling fans are also great, particularly at night.
Marg
A lot of heat enters through windows. Investigate solar window films, external blinds, awnings, or even the use of bushes (though NOT too close to the house). The aim is to keep the direct sun from heating the glass.
Cross ventilation helps enormously, but obviously you are restricted to the present floor plan. There WAS a reason that Queenslander houses had the central passage running straight through the middle of the house, also open grilles above doors - great cross-ventilation. Dreadful feng shui, but very practical in the tropics.
Ceiling fans are also great, particularly at night.
Marg
The key is to change your mindset: the inhabitants of the house being too hot is the issue, not the heat in the house itself. Nudity at home offers not only the benefit of making you cooler, but also reduces clothing costs.
As a bit of a tropical living masochist over many years I would say that cooling a non airconditioned house is combining a number of elements which all go together to assist in keeping the ambient temp of a house at bearable levels. The key is to keep the air moving and as when it wafts past your skin it cools you. In no particular order I would look at :- painting the roof with a reflective paint (a proven method), installing a whirley bird or two to take heat out of the roof cavity, ensure walls of property are shaded from the sun by eaves or shrubs/trees etc to stop the walls soaking up the suns rays then releasing the heat at night into the house, louvre windows are good, install ceiling fans, open doors /windows -may need to fit security screens to do this, install ceiling insulation.
One other less seen method which works really well is where a large specialised fan is installed in the ceiling of say the hallway of a house which sucks the hot air out from all rooms end expels it thru the roof. When not in use it has self closing shutters to hide it. Very clever and as it is a high volume fan, you can feel the air moving past you. Does not use anywhere near as much power as an AC.
One other less seen method which works really well is where a large specialised fan is installed in the ceiling of say the hallway of a house which sucks the hot air out from all rooms end expels it thru the roof. When not in use it has self closing shutters to hide it. Very clever and as it is a high volume fan, you can feel the air moving past you. Does not use anywhere near as much power as an AC.
As John said, you're looking for a combination of things that might each reduce the temperature by a degree or two.
I've known people who use fans to bring the cool sub floor air into the living space.
There are solar run fans that people use to push air under houses to vent the subfloor area.
You could use one of these in the floor to bring up the air below the floor.
The air down there would be musty at first, but with great airflow under the house this would stop.
Runnings costs would be nil with a solar powered fan.
I've known people who use fans to bring the cool sub floor air into the living space.
There are solar run fans that people use to push air under houses to vent the subfloor area.
You could use one of these in the floor to bring up the air below the floor.
The air down there would be musty at first, but with great airflow under the house this would stop.
Runnings costs would be nil with a solar powered fan.
Hey Burty
Good to hear the duplex is coming along well.
From my renovating experiences the things I've found that have cooled a house down (either purposely or inadvertantly) include; replacing old, clear glass windows with new tinted windows; ceiling insulation (courtesy of Gvt rebate); and also external vinyl cladding using insulated cladding.
However, new windows and wall cladding are definitely not cheap options!
In my PPOR we had reverse-cycle, split-system aircons installed which are really a necessity in the tropics. But I can understand the cost factor being an issue as it costs a fair bit to have these installed in a high set house.
I can also recommend block-out curtains and screens which make a huge difference if used properly, depending on the aspect of the sun.
Good to hear the duplex is coming along well.
From my renovating experiences the things I've found that have cooled a house down (either purposely or inadvertantly) include; replacing old, clear glass windows with new tinted windows; ceiling insulation (courtesy of Gvt rebate); and also external vinyl cladding using insulated cladding.
However, new windows and wall cladding are definitely not cheap options!
In my PPOR we had reverse-cycle, split-system aircons installed which are really a necessity in the tropics. But I can understand the cost factor being an issue as it costs a fair bit to have these installed in a high set house.
I can also recommend block-out curtains and screens which make a huge difference if used properly, depending on the aspect of the sun.
Haha well that has been a common occurrence lately between me and g/f lately lol....
Cheers everyone for the input....
Have a guy coming around on Tuesday for a quote to get the insulation done on the property...
Most of these work in reverse for heating too. We usually run into issues keeping *warm*. Blocking drafts is another biggie if you don't want hot air to sneak into your house.
I have to say I only end up naked for < 10 minutes a day to shower, I swear I haven't seen my own feet for months. They're always in fuzzy socks or I'm not wearing my glasses and without them I can't see past my knees ...
I have to say I only end up naked for < 10 minutes a day to shower, I swear I haven't seen my own feet for months. They're always in fuzzy socks or I'm not wearing my glasses and without them I can't see past my knees ...
uh - what about a $695 split?
I managed to pick up some reverse-cycle splits in good name brands (Fujitsu and Mitsubishi) for $300 last year - which is probably at around cost price.
But having an installer do all the piping and an electrician finishing it off is hardly cheap. Unless you have a mate who can do it cheap. And as long as they know how to do it properly (I've seen dodgy installs which needed to be fixed up later by somebody else).
hi
pull the house down
re design and rebuild it
use rockwall as insulation and put a double roof or a skin with a gap to allow slow heat up of the building.
use heat sinks into the ground so u use the thermal mass of the ground to cool the building.
if it designed right not only will you need no air cond you will need no heating either.
cheapest way to cool any building is to build it correct in the first place.
not sure if this will help
pull the house down
re design and rebuild it
use rockwall as insulation and put a double roof or a skin with a gap to allow slow heat up of the building.
use heat sinks into the ground so u use the thermal mass of the ground to cool the building.
if it designed right not only will you need no air cond you will need no heating either.
cheapest way to cool any building is to build it correct in the first place.
not sure if this will help
Just found this product. from the USA.
http://www.insuladd.com/
http://www.insuladd.com/
