Dave and Phil’s Place 2017

Dave and Phil’s Place

Seven years ago we undertook a renovation of our 1969-built suburban home, to extend and to reduce our carbon footprint. Come and have a look around, and see how things are going now – the impact on our utility bills, the actual reduction in resource use, and the pros and cons of the choices we’ve made.

Financially, it’s a mixed bag and we’re happy to explore some of that with visitors – some alterations are great for the earth but don’t impact the hip pocket particularly (e.g. reducing bore watering), some come at a cost we think worthwhile (grey water) and others save money as well (Solar PV on the earliest tariff contract).

Features include:

– Grey-water recycling system, which recycles water from laundry and showers to a sub-soil irrigation system under the back lawn. This system has undergone a couple of iterations.
– We have a wide corner block and have removed all the lawn at the front of the block, replacing it with a large native garden and veggie patch with compost bins.
– 4kw solar PV system with 19 roof panels. We have data on display of power use and bills since we installed this.
– 5,000L rainwater tank, which feeds our laundry and toilets.
– Back deck with tilted roof which faces North and provides shade to the previously exposed North wall of our house.

– Bee Hive through Postcode Honey

We are keen to share with others our experience of retro-fitting sustainable improvements to a suburban home.

Join Switch your thinking and Transition Town Gosnells on a free guided bus tour exploring local environmentally progressive homes including this house. To book a spot on this tour click here.