The House Barellan 2018

The House Barellan

Built in the early ’90s in a new development, this house is an open-plan design that achieved the equivalent of 5 Stars before stars were a thing. We did a few things right, like additional insulation, solar hot water, and orienting the house for solar gain and for PV in the future. But we missed out on a couple of key things, including using single-glazed windows and non-insulated heated slab!

Over the years, we have improved the performance a bit by experimenting with different types of DIY double glazing, putting in additional insulation and building a pergola to shield us from the harsh sun in summer.

We have created a permaculture garden complete with chickens and bees, and we are slowly turning it into a food forest. Our water supply is supplemented by a large 25,000 liter tank.

Our latest addition is a 15kW PV grid/hybrid system with batteries to enable us to migrate off gas and eliminate our energy bills. We expect this will save us around $4000 per year. It will also enable us to migrate to electric vehicles in the future, whilst maintaining our to export solar power into the grid to further reduce the impact of fossil fuels.

A win for us, a win for our community and a win for the planet.

The house also achieved 10 stars with the Victorian Residential Efficiency Scorecard. If you would like to find out more click here.