As we mention on the Eco Homes page, there are numerous benefits to building green homes, including reducing your eco-footprint through clean green energy production, savings on power and energy bills, the health benefits of living in a fully-insulated home and more.
As well as using PV (solar) panels, solar water heating, hot water heat pumps, thorough insulation and all LED lights, creating functional green homes also includes using fully-integrated water and energy solutions (such as those offered by LEAP described below) that make your home more comfortable, more eco friendly, and cheaper to run. This is a great alternative in the situation where it isn’t a custom-built eco house, but a refit or renovation.
SS Homes works with quality providers to ensure we are using top-of-the-range products and taking all steps possible to not only create an energy eifficient home, but to save you money for the long term. This means you can experience the benefits that eco homes offer even if you are looking at a renovation or refit. For custom-builds we can design from the ground up and incorporate the best systems for your site and budget. Read on to get an idea of what is possible.
Saving Electricity: LED lights, Insulation, Free Electricity, Hot Water Heat Pumps and more
Pretty much a no-brainer, LED lights have completely dominated the electric light world, and with their long-life (around 50,000 hours) and power-saving advantages (using around 90% less energy than incandescent light) you can see why. We incorporate LED lights into all new builds and can recommend on lighting solutions for refits.
Basically, your house produces power whenever the sun is shining. Whenever you are producing more energy than you are using the excess energy can be sold back to the grid ensuring there is no “wasted” power. Combine this with other things, such as using your dishwasher and washing machine during off-peak hours (or during the free energy hour if you have followed our advice above about Electric Kiwi) and this can result in substantial savings, especially if you are in a region of high sunlight hours such as Hawke’s Bay.
Though water might be free in NZ, Eco Houses are also about conserving resources and reducing your ecological footprint. The Maniflow system by LEAP is a modern alternative, and can save thousands of litres of wasted water a year. Not only that, it can save you money in the following ways:
The image below is just for comparison, but gives you a clear indication of the benefits of a hot water heat pump over several years. Note that Gas is cheaper than power, but not by nearly as much.
Thermal mass refers to when the building materials used (usually dense materials such as concrete and brick) are good at absorbing and storing heat energy from the sun. With proper design and construction, and thought about the differences between Summer and Winter and how to best manage these, thermal mass can be effectively used to cool your house during the day in Summer, and retain warmth in your house over the Winter. You can get an idea of how this works in the image below.
As noted on the diagram the building is insulated, shading cuts out the sun to avoid too much heat, and the thermal mass absorbs heat energy, releasing it at night to keep your house warm.
In Winter the sun is allowed to penetrate creating natural warmth, and the thermal mass will hold and store heat and slowly emit it. Heat loss through windows, walls, the roof and the ceiling is minimised.
We use Licensed Building Practitioners — always check the LBP Register to ensure your building practitioner is currently licensed.
Copyright 2021 SS Homes | All Rights Reserved | Powered by MRD
