Our house is less than a km from Townsville's CBD. It operates off the grid and is completely self-sufficient in power, thanks to a 15kW PV solar system with batteries, which are a combination of new lithium batteries and old acid gel-type batteries. In fact, it produces more power than we consume and even charges our electric car. Since Townsville has a dry tropical climate, our primary focus was on creating a home that required minimal cooling during the warmer seasons.
Built by a local builder, our two-bedroom (100m2) house makes good use of insulated sandwich roof panels and a low thermal mass construction. We've incorporated energy-efficient appliances throughout the house. To ensure effective cooling, we've installed four air conditioners, as well as louvre windows that facilitate excellent airflow and cross ventilation. Additionally, our low-e windows (where 'low-e' stands for low emissivity, denoting a thin coating applied to one side of the glass) help reduce heat transmission. Six DC, Australian designed, ceiling fans are installed. They have a very aerodynamic blade shape and use only a few watts of power at low speed settings.
To enhance the property's comfort and temperature control year-round, we planted a lush garden on our compact 300m2 block. It plays a vital role in maintaining a cool and comfortable environment. We had bamboo flooring and pebble tile floors installed for coolness and easy maintenance.
Built in 2014, the house received local and regional HIA Greensmart awards and has been on display during a number of Sustainable House Days. We call our house the Triple Zero House meaning zero electricity bills, zero gas/fuel bills and zero emissions, something we’re proud of and it makes life in the dry tropics of North Queensland comfortable and cost-effective.
An engineer and former owner of a renewable energy supply company, Frank used his know-how to recycle second-hand solar panels, recently adding 30 of them to our setup. While you can’t use these for a new installation or in grid-connected home, they work perfectly for our off-grid system. We just had to ensure that the panels complied with the applicable standards for off-grid installations. We also used a second-hand inverter to extend the generation capacity at minimal cost.
We had no difficulties disconnecting from the grid supply and going off-grid in this town location and we had converted an older Queenslander to be off-grid as well as other homes around Australia. Right now we are in the process of building an off-grid weekender kit home in a rural area further north from here. For grid-connected locations, we do advise keeping existing electricity meters, just in case you’d like to reconnect to the grid at some point in the future.
We have been very conscious to make sure our house is designed to be as energy efficient as possible and fitted it out with energy-efficient appliances, that way we reduce our demand for electricity and it resulted in a more than generous supply capacity even in cloudy weather conditions.
It's incredibly satisfying to know that all the power we use is emission-free, and self-generated, we don’t go without comforts, and using the air conditioning 24/7 doesn't cost us a thing.
Aspects of the house we can chat with you about include:
The experiences and opinions shared on this site and by homeowners are general in nature. The information is relevant to their situation and available at the time of their build or renovation. Products, situations, and contexts change. Please talk to a qualified architect, builder, or industry professional for advice specific to your circumstances. A small % of booking fees goes to Lived In Eco Homes.
Lived In Eco Homes acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Country we work and build on. The founders live on Bunurong/Boon Wurrung Country.
