Entries Tagged 'energy saving' ↓

All around our nation, home owners have been gradually insulating ceilings, windows and floors – because these are relatively easy to do.

And that leaves just the walls. And we don’t know what to do!

That’s because walls are hard to get at.

Now Waterworks Community has produced a ‘How to insulate the walls of your home’ guide for those who are keen to have a go. You can download it HERE.

Our sister group, South Hobart Sustainable Community, has just launched a ‘carbon reduction fund’, a spin-off from its very successful bulk solar purchase.

Invitations are open now – so if you have a deserving project consider applying now. Deadline for the first round is August 31.

Please download details HERE.

This Sunday, June 27, there will be two in-house demonstrations on home insulation.

Come and see how Clear Comfort window insulation can be cheaply installed on your windows – at 1pm, 136 Waterworks Rd.

Come and see how to retrofit insulation into a weatherboard wall cavity – at 3pm, 195 Waterworks Rd.

Plugging energy waste in your home can be one of those rare investments that provide a guaranteed financial return.

By way of comparison, this graph (click on it to enlarge) compares your dividend on $10,000 invested in Microsoft shares versus investment in home energy saving retrofit (for a 5 year period.)

What the chart doesn’t show is 1) many energy saving measures cost almost nothing and 2) expenditures in energy saving keep paying back, year after year, for the life of the home. Once they have paid themselves back they effectively become a continuing source of household income. Full story HERE.

Dates for these are as follows: All start at 7.30pm.

102 Waterworks Rd Mon May 3
414a Strickland Ave, Wed May 5
152 Waterworks Wed May 12
14b Livingston Wed May 19
50 Bramble St Thurs May 20
195 Waterworks Rd May 24

Click on image to see details.

Please email us for queries.

Recent publicity over insulation deaths prompts us to issue a general warning to Tasmanian households.

Please be assured that most home renovations can be undertaken with complete safely provided some basic safety measures are taken. To this end, please browse the checklist – download it HERE.

Waterworks Community by now has extensive involvement in advising householders on the variety of ways they can refurbish their homes to reduce their climate footprint. Our own community is a living demonstration of what success can be achieved.

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Having initiated the solar hot water bulk purchase scheme in 2007, solar installations are ballooning in our community as well as neighbouring suburbs.

During the past few weeks new solar systems have been installed at 46, 134, 141, 164, 178, 183 and 195 Waterworks Rd and at 22 and 30 Romilly Street – all these in addition to those already installed in the previous two years.

Taking a leaf from our book, South Hobart community’s bulk purchase scheme was overwhelmed with 300 expressions of Interest, many of those now being installed.

Solar systems are very visible sign of sustainable living, and are valuable not only in reducing our own energy footprints, but in advertising the concept of sustainable living.

During the coming six months our climate project will step up into top gear, with home assessments, free shower heads, collective insulation working bees and so forth. Watch this space!

The Project Team

Having a very good shower is one of life’s pleasures. So switching to an energy-saving shower is often met with skepticism.

From our experience, when doing home assessments, many Australians would rather put up with catastrophic climate change than put up with a second rate shower.

Well it doesn’t have to come to that. It’s all in the science of how water is delivered. With older shower heads most of the water never touches your body, just goes down the drain unused.

Amongst the confusing array of shower heads that are on the market we have picked one (pictured) that gives you a ‘bloody good shower’ whilst using less than half the energy of older technology. We have bulk ordered the one pictured (click here for details) and will be offering them to eligible homes as part of our climate project.

Here’s a chance to meet neighbours and discuss how we make our homes more comfortable and sustainable.

Join us on Sunday October 18 for a house-to-house visit and a sociable Sunday chat. (Please visit between 10 am and 2 pm.)

Six families are opening their home to see what they’ve already done (and are intending to do) to reduce their home’s footprint. This is not a showing off event it is an authentic sharing of ideas.

You can download a summary of each home below:
Ridgeway home: 23 Bramble St
Waterworks Rd homes: 101, 134, 144, 187, 195

At 2 pm there will be a mini Home Energy Workshop at 195 Waterworks.

For more information please ring Carol Ph 6223 4653.

Many thanks to Claudia and Jason and family for use of their home for the belated formal launch of our climate project on Sunday (August 30).

We were blessed with a brief break in the continuous wet weather (as NSW sizzles in mid-Summer temperatures, breaking all records for August).

Here is a replica of the little garden signs that participating households will be displaying in their front yards.

This comes with a commitment: to reduce the household’s carbon footprint by 5% minimum per year. We aim to do everything we can to ensure that this commitment can be easily met, and that task will keep us very busy for the coming year!

And thanks too to Nel Smit, a community representative on Tasmania’s Climate Action Council, who launched the project for us on Sunday.

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Sustainable houses throughout Australia will be opening their doors for you to look inside on Sunday 13th September.

See the real benefits of sustainable housing up close. Learn what you can do with your own home. Meet the professionals and find out about useful products.

Check out the sustainable house day website for house locations in Hobart area. Admission to all houses is free.

Waterworks Valley is the most solarised street in Tasmania (anybody wish to contest that claim?) and maybe we should challenge every other street community to do better – in the interest of promulgating sustainable living.

This year four more local households have installed solar hot water systems (at 60, 104, 166 and 191 Waterworks Rd) and several other households have signed up for solar hot water and solar photovoltaic systems – through South Hobart Community’s fantastically successful bulk purchase initiative.

(I hasten to add that solar is not the be all and end all. There are, of course, zillions of less photogenic things that are just as worthwhile – like growing home vegetables, recycling and walking kids to school.)

Chris @ 195

Waterworks Valley’s application for Climate Connect grant has been approved by the Tasmanian Climate Change Office.

This is a major project that will be conducted in the forthcoming 12 months. For an outline click HERE. Or you can download the grant application HERE to see what it entails.

Many thanks for those who contributed to this. And watch this space for more!

NOTE: A new weblink devoted to this project will be set up shortly.

Chris @ 195