I don’t understand them because:
This photo shows a fairly typical pump installation.
An electric pump with pressure sensor control. It’s even got a fairly large diameter flexible suction hose between the tank and the pump.
So…..What are the issues?
Well water is an incompressible substance so every time some water leaves the system the pressure drops enough to trigger the sensor and the pump starts…………..That happens whether you are having a shower, putting a splash of water on your hands, or even a couple of drops dripping from a slightly leaky toilet valve.
This leads to Three Issues.
Electric pumps are designed to pump efficiently at their designed rate. If you are using water at a slower rate than the design rate the pump wastes energy trying to pump at its designed flow.
A lot more power is used to start the pump then when the pump is running for some time.
A Recent Study for the CSIRO showed that a typical domestic rainwater system used more energy than traditional centralised water treatment and distribution systems.
The main thing that wears pumps out is continually starting rather than running.
Because the pump runs frequently you are more likely to notice the noise. If you have got a leaking tap or toilet valve it will be starting up several times through the night.
If you have got a large block with a slope of several metres it may be possible to install a header tank. This solution however is not normally possible for most of us.
The best solution for the average house is to upgrade by installing a Pressure Tank. Follow the link to find out more.
Imagine the standard internal stud wall in your new house.
Sounds a bit like a Drum doesn’t it?……………It’s no wonder sound transmits easily from room to room.
If you are having a 2 storey house that drum effect will be the same between the floors with the added problem of someone walking on the top of the “drum”.
To make things quieter one solution is to fill the air space with something that can absorb the noise.
You can use standard wall insulation batts, but for the best performance it is better to go for an Accoustic Batt.
The Accoustic Batts are more expensive (typically 60-70% more) but being much denser absorb a lot more sound.
If you decide to go for sound insulation batts a key issue in the effectiveness will be the quality of the installation. Every gap must be fully filled with insulation, any missing areas and noise will get through.
An added advantage of putting sound insulation in internal walls is that it increases the effect of Buffer Zones in keeping heating and cooling costs down.
A disadvantage is that if you were used to shouting to get the attention of someone in another room that won’t work with good sound insulation.
In high end houses it’s not unusual to wrap the toilet waste pipes in accoustic insulation so people downstairs can’t hear an upstairs toilet flush!
Also see Reducing External Noise
Think some of the builders facades are a bit plain?…..How about this?
For more photos of this and to find out more visit Blank White Box on the dornob.com web site.
Post inspired by comments from ‘Johnson’ on the Homeone forum website.
Light is one of the most important thing in a house.
During the day its nice to get as much natural light into the house as possible while avoiding glare.
When the sun goes down its a different matter. An overall light level for the whole room is pretty boring.
There’s two keys to successful lighting:
Layering
This involves various lights in the room that illuminate areas for their specific use for example.
Having multiple light sources allows you to change the mood as you see fit.
Shadows
Shadowing is a forgotten element of a good lighting plan. While the multiple downlight brigade likes to light every single corner of the room, they forget that the human eye is drawn to bright areas — and you can only get those with contrasting shadowed areas.
There’s nothing wrong with a dim backwall that can only be illuminated by a single lamp, or a comfy chair secreted in a shadowed alcove. Shadows can provide drama, texture, or even comfort.
It’s possible to create wonderful spaces with the simplest lighting setups. Very few situations call for bright, overhead downlights – but that doesn’t stop people from using rows of the things across their lounge room ceiling, like some sort of inverted airport runway!
So forget the downlights. There’s plenty of shops with beautiful lights. Get creative! You might even save some money.
Photograph comes from www.iseecubed.com
If you have a sloping drive it can be difficult to install a gate.
One option is to install a sliding gate which rolls to one side. These although expensive can work quite well if the whole of the front is level and you have plenty of room between the driveway and the path to the front door.
As you can see with the above installation the roller gate will block the pedestrian gate.
Not enough room, or want a lower cost solution, then you can use conventional gates with offset hinges which allow the gates to swing up as they open (See below)
These hinges will need to be made to suit the slope of the driveway so you may need to buy the gates from a specialist gate company rather than from your local DIY store.
I have occasionally put a statue in the garden,
Normally one of those slightly abstract figures, or a Budda, from Bunnings……..but nothing like this:
It might not be to everyone’s taste but I’m sure the owner loves it, and it made me to notice it, so its done its job!
It is in a garden in Queen Street, Sebastopol, near Ballarat, Victoria.
When you look at some of the prices that builders charge for things it makes you wonder if you can get things cheaper by employing your own tradies during the build.
Examples are things like:
Unfortunately its not always that simple. Some builder will allow you to bring in your tradies, many refuse point blank, some will allow it if you pay an Admin/Supervision Fee.
The Administration/Supervision Fee is to provide additional supervision, and security, and have an allowance for risk.
As a fee of up to $1,000 per trade is not unusual you need to be saving a lot of money before going for separate tradies for part of your new house build.
Also you may not get the price reduction you thought by deducting items from the contract as there is a Difference between contract prices and retail prices.
If you think you may want to go down this route you need to check whether you builder is likely to agree before you get too far along the path to signing a contract.
When you are looking at builders web sites the main things you can look at besides Facades are Floor Plans………But what is the best shape for the overall house?
If you have a Well Orientated site (Longest dimension runs East West) and you are not Shaded by tall trees or other properties the best shape will normally be a rectangle.
This will provide a long wall with North Facing Windows where most of the rooms can be warmed in the window. As the other dimension will be shorter the sun will penetrate well into the house. Just make sure you have proper eaves or a pergola to avoid the summer sun.
If you have got either a South or North facing site it’s probably best to go for as wide a house as you can fit on the block.
You should aim to provide the maximum amount of internal space compared to wall space. This is both economic in terms of wall materials and minimisation of heat transfer (Less heat lost in winter, less heat gain in summer)
The shape that fits provides the most internal space for minimum walls is a circle…….but not everyone wants to live in a yurt.
A couple of practical problems are:
Don’t want a round house, then the next best thing is to make the shape as close to a square as possible.
Have you got a yurt or other type of round house?…….. What do you like about it?
See Bubble Diagrams if you want to design your own home plan
What do you think of this Cubby House that someone built in their garden, soon after moving in?
Well it looks pretty good…………………………. Solidly constructed building, nice colourful paint job, and securely bolted down to a convenient concrete slab.
Well have a look at this close up of that convenient concrete slab.
That solid concrete slab is actually the top of a sewer manhole on the Easement.
This particular manhole has two covers (You can see the front one on the photo) which need to be accessed for cleaning about every 18 months!
How would you like to move this?
