Looking to reduce your bills and make your home more sustainable?
You’re in luck. Sunday 16 September 2018 is Sustainable House Day, a day when the doors of the greenest homes in your neighbourhood are flung open and you can take a peek inside. It’s the perfect time to see first hand how passive solar design really works, how water-efficient gardens can be beautiful, and energy efficient lighting practical as well as attractive.
Switch your thinking are hosting a bus tour for Sustainable House Day in partnership with Environment House. Leaving from Environment House in Bayswater, the tour will include three sustainable homes. Each home has been chosen because they demonstrate designs that are affordable and provide comfortable, efficient and beautiful spaces to live in. If you are considering a build, a renovation or a retrofit of your home to reduce your bills and increase your comfort levels, then you will get a lot of useful information from this event.
Find out more about the Sustainable House Day bus tour.
There are simple and low-cost changes you can make to your own home that will help reduce your bills and make your home more sustainable. Try these top five:
- Keep heat inside in winter and outside in summer by closing curtains and blinds. Use draught tape to seal up cracks and gaps.
- Reduce energy costs by rugging up before turning on the heater in winter and using a fan before turning on air conditioning in summer.
- Set your air-conditioner at 18 degrees or cooler in winter and 24 degrees or warmer in summer. Every degree difference can use up to ten percent more energy.
- Fix leaks around the house. A leaking toilet can waste 25 litres a day or a whopping 9125 litres of water per year.
- Improve indoor air quality and the health of your family by regularly opening doors and windows (even in winter) and reducing your use of toxic cleaners and fragrances.