Austinmer House 2025

Austinmer House

Original house design was constrained by limited building envelope reflecting Council heritage requirements, resulting in sub-optimal solar orientation and roof style (garage takes prime solar orientation; steep roof a challenge to installation of solar panels).

Energy efficient retrofits comprise:
• Upgrade of 3kW solar system (originally installed in 2017) with a 10kW system with split array and micro inverters, in Dec 2023.
• Installation of heat pump and induction cooker, enabling gas account to be closed in early 2024.
• Installation of 13.5 kWh battery in Jan 2025
• System supports two EV’s – one full EV, the other a PHEV (plug-in hybrid)
• Solar lights along driveway and parking area.

Other features of interest:
• The original solar installer (2017) subsequently rebirthed as another business, so we couldn’t claim on the 10-year product warranty on the panels when one of the two panel arrays malfunctioned within 5 years of installation.
• The current 10kW solar system only delivers a maximum of 6kW due to roof orientation and tall trees on northern side of house.
• The current system typically produces 40kWh on sunny days in summer (only 10kWh if overcast all day); and 12kWh on sunny days in winter (only 5kWh if overcast).
• We do not have a fast charge (DC) facility for the EV’s and only charge the EV’s via trickle charge to maximise use of off grid power.
• Given limited building envelope and space available for water tanks, the house features two interconnected slimline tanks on each side of the house.