Insulation is back in my roof (just in time for winter, it seems)
Well, I’m getting there.
Last week I had a ceiling fan installed in the livingroom. It’ll help on hot days, and because I have ceiling ducted heating, also helps distribute heat better on cold days as well.
To do this, the old light fitting was removed. I’m hoping it might be worth something — I was never that keen on it, but it does appear to be an original, making it about eighty years old. There appears to be a reasonable market for such things.
In contrast, I really like all the other (antique) lights in the house — except for the kitchen. Of course, now I’m realising that I should have arranged for the kitchen to have a ceiling fan installed as well. And while I was at it, I could have got them to install the heat guards for the down lights in there. They were switched from halogen to LEDs, so not as warm, but still worthwhile to assist with the insulation.
Speaking of insulation, that got done yesterday morning. The old loose stuff had been removed last year. The very hot day or two last week was unbearable. Winter last year wasn’t much fun either. My estimate is that in a weatherboard house with no roof insulation, the temperature would drop by at least a degree per hour if it was cold outside, which made a big difference to the gas heating bill.
So I finally got around to booking insulation back. This document from the Victorian Department of Sustainability reckons the recommended level of insulation for ceilings in Melbourne is R2.5, but I decided to go for R4. (Confusingly, I subsequently found this Federal government web page which recommends R4.1. Hmmm.
The material they used was something called “earthwool” — which unlike conventional glasswool doesn’t cause irritation if handled without gloves.
The installers appear to have done a good quick job, but it was a tad irritating that they’d booked in for 7:30am (necessitating everybody being awake and dressed early) but didn’t show until 10am. Not to worry; I think it’s already made a difference… after they’d finished, I turned the heat on (damn it was cold yesterday).
Gaps were left around the down lights, with spare earthwool to fill in the gaps once I’ve had the electricians back in to install the heat guards.
So, hopefully having insulation back in the roof will make a big difference, and it means the various housey things I’ve been meaning to get done are progressing.
Other projects in progress:
- Sort out the spare room for Jeremy’s use, once the drainage issue at the back of the house is solved (water leaks in the window during very heavy downfall)
- Solar panels on the roof (I already have solar water… hopefully there’s enough north-facing roof space for PV panels as well)
- Fix the rattling laundry window
- A nicer, heavier rug for the livingroom
- Consider external blinds for some north/west-facing rooms to further reduce heat
- The constant tidying and reduction in clutter… have made good progress over the break, but there’s still a lot to do
Memo to self:
- Light globe for ceiling fan: GE Tiny Spiral, 15 watt CFL (75 watt equivalent) x 2, E27 screw
Tags: house, insulation, light bulbs, weather
2 comments
We lost power last night in the storm
Things I learnt when we lost power:
Take-away pizza by torchlight a bad way to have dinner.
A Smart Meter won’t keep the juice flowing if there’s problems in the local distribution network.
I don’t have enough torches. At least one per person would be good.
The Dolphin mini LED torch I got recently is really good. Will get a couple more of these I think.
Thank goodness for mobile internet, and having a phone that still has a charge in it.
If you’re not sure who your electricity distribution company is, try the list here.
The United Energy Distribution web site is quite good, and accessible via a Smart phone. It shows you maps of the affected area and so on, but is not to be trusted entirely — our area vanished off the list when their estimated recovery time of 8pm passed.
The UED phone service was more candid, with a more up-to-date (?) estimate of after midnight.
The early night didn’t do us any harm. I was glad to get the extra sleep.
Questions I still have:
If the power was off from about 4pm, until sometime overnight (perhaps up to 12 hours)… is the stuff that was in the fridge still okay? The milk seems to be all right (as far as I can smell), but what about frozen food?
PS. Jeremy noticed that some ice that had been loose in a container was still frozen and loose; eg it hadn’t even melted enough to stick together, let alone into water and then frozen again. Which to me suggests all the food should be fine, as (in the freezer especially) the temperature never got very high.
The gamble of fixed interest rates
In October 2007 I switched to a fixed interest rate of 7.85% for five years.
It turned out to be a terrible punt. The Global Financial Crisis hit the following year, with interest rates dipping to record lows. I shudder to think how much money I might have saved if at that point I’d locked in a low fixed rate. Maybe there’s an alternative universe version of me who held off in 2007, and took advantage of that.
Even now, my bank’s variable rate is 7.80%.
D’oh.
Tags: banking, home loans, interest rates, money
6 comments
They’re not Smart Meters anymore, they’re Advanced Meters
They finally installed a new electricity meter at my house. This was after receiving three sets of letters saying “we’re about to install it”.
It wasn’t one of those much-criticised allegedly-defective Smart Meters though — oh no, it was an Advanced Meter. So much better.
Will be interested to see what effect it has on the next power bill.
Tags: electricity, home, SmartMeters
6 comments
My garden thinks it’s spring
Tags: flowers, garden, weather
8 comments
Cleaning out the roof
I spent about 4 hours in the roof on Sunday, with an industrial vacuum cleaner from Kennards, trying to clear out some of the residual insulation and other crap from up there.
I had thought the half-day hire would be enough, but man, it’s hard work manoeuvring around up there, let alone with a big vacuum cleaner accompanying you. The placement of the heating ducts didn’t make it any easier, nor of course having to scrupulously step on the rafters, rather than putting my foot through the ceiling. Getting into some of the nooks and crannies was really difficult, particularly where the roof meets the ceiling.
Nor making it easier was that the vacuum cleaner’s head didn’t seem to want to detach from the wand, somewhat limiting the flexibility of the unit. I spent much of the time just waving the hose around.
It was quite exhausting, and by the time I had to take the cleaner back (it was $67 for a half-day, which in practice meant not just 4 hours, but 11:30 until 5pm; or $82 for a full 24 hours, but I wouldn’t have had the time or energy to do it) I reckon I would have done about half the roof. I had however concentrated on the worst (dustiest) sections, including the outsides of the ducts themselves.
While up there I also removed any number of bits of junk that had been left behind by others over the years: numerous bits of wire, chunks of roof tile, and a 2 metre-long piece of pipe. There are a lot of other bits of disused pipe which will be somewhat harder to remove, and will require a plumber to be done properly.
The idea is to make it easier for the new insulation to be installed. The carpenter guy I’ve been working with takes the view that the cleaner/tidier the area, the better the job achievable, which is probably fair enough. Given how knackered I was, hopefully it’s now clean enough.
All the effort certainly had one outcome though: I’ve decided no way am I going to install the insulation myself. It’ll be well worth paying the pros to come in and do it properly, and avoid hours of frustrating, exhausting work.
I’ve also learnt that scrabbling around in the roof space exercises muscles which don’t normally get used (and are still sore) and that I I’m not very good at spelling vacuum.
Tags: house, Kennards, roof
7 comments
Plumbing mishap
I thought I’d be clever and change all the washers in the bath, and show the kids how it’s done at the same time. The shower ones were okay, but when we tried to take off the bath hot, it broke away.
Result: nothing to grip onto. I assume the whole bit will have to be replaced, but how do I get it out, given the only thing I can grip onto just broke off? There is a hexagonal section, but it’s beyond the level of the tiles, and inaccessible, at least with any spanner I own.
Ideas welcome!
5:20pm: Have got the hexagonal bit that can grip onto it, but it’s not budging. Have called for reinforcements.
Also got a replacement part, which may or may not match the other one precisely, though functionally I expect it to work — as the lady in Bunnings said, “they’re pretty much universal.”
6:50pm: Reinforcements (my highly talented brother-in-law Adrian) arrived, and with the aid of a longer lever than is supplied with the hexagonal sockets, managed to get the thingo out. We’ve replaced it with the new one, which as expected doesn’t quite match the old one; the thread where the cover thingy is meant to go doesn’t match… but it’ll do the job.
Adrian also noted that it’s better when changing a washer to use the hexagonal socket at the base of the shaft thingy rather than a conventional spanner at the top; less risk of breakage.
If you don’t have a highly talented brother-in-law called Adrian to help you with plumbing and other household mishaps, I highly recommend getting one. A highly-talented step-father called Peter would also be able to do the job… but mine is in America at the moment.
Also thanks to Dean from the Twittersphere, for the tip on getting the hexagonal sockets. (Three cheers for the #LazyWeb!)
PS. Adrian also told me something I’ve believed for ages: don’t tighten a tap too much. Tighten it just enough to stop the water. Beyond that is bad for the washer; it’ll just wear it out quicker.
Tags: home, plumbing
12 comments
A few thoughts on the carbon scheme
New for June… a Lego house with solar panels on the roof.
Here’s a few thoughts on the carbon scheme announced yesterday:
1. I simply don’t understand how the deniers can continue to be taken seriously by anybody when the vast majority of climate scientists agree there’s a problem that needs to be fixed.
It also seems a peculiar view that the world’s population can continue to burn fossil fuels in huge amounts with no consequences.
2. It’s true that Australia represents only a small fraction of overall global emissions. But people are are watching, and influence is important. On any issue, people look to those who are leading the world. Here’s a small example: while I’m not even sure I agree with it, it turns out that inner-city Melbourne has been hailed as a world leader in pedestrian-friendly streets. If we have any hope at all of convincing others to do something about reducing emissions, we have to get our house in order.
3. The scheme sounds like a pretty good start. If the modelling is right, it’ll have a minimal effect on the overall economy (0.1% of GDP) while providing a good price signal that big companies in particular need to find better ways of doing things.
4. The Opposition’s view on this doesn’t make sense to me. A plan of direct action? There seems to be agreement from economists that this is less efficient than a pricing scheme:
The main finding of the research is that the experience from these six schemes indicates that a general price on carbon emissions is preferable to specific measures. – markets are generally more efficient in encouraging innovation than direct government intervention. — CPA blog
And wouldn’t direct action be far more like a socialist response than letting market forces figure it out? Interesting quote from Alan Kohler about just who wants what:
For what it’s worth, what I think is that the entire scientific, business, bureaucratic classes – all the serious people – are in favour — Alan Kohler on Twitter
Those against carbon pricing are the Shadow Cabinet (and not even all of them) plus some attention-seekers. That’s all. — Alan Kohler on Twitter
5. There’s some niggles. The Australian Railway Association notes that with petrol exempt and heavy (road) vehicles exempt for some time, railways, which should provide a less carbon-intensive way of moving people and freight, will be disadvantaged by not being exempt. One estimate is that it may push up public transport fares by about 2%.
6. The second niggle (but a political reality) is that the scheme is aimed squarely at the big emitters, and with lots of compensation to individuals, there’s little or no incentive to change personal behaviour. Hence, petrol is exempt (but as Phil Hart from ASPO said at a recent PTUA member meeting, including it wouldn’t have made much of a price difference compared to what will happen when peak oil really kicks in).
7. Personally I’m not sure if I’ll end up ahead or behind in economic terms. The Estimator tool on the government web site told me “The household situation described by the information you have entered is not covered by the scenarios used by this Estimator.” Oh well.
From the looks of it, wealthier people can’t count on the tax changes to get all their costs refunded. But then, they are precisely the people who can afford to cover their roofs in solar panels themselves to cut their electricity and gas costs, and cut their direct emissions and costs that way.
8. Niggles aside, I do think it is important to get the ball rolling on reducing emissions, and it does seem to me that putting a price on pollution sends an important market signal that will get that process underway.
