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Federally Funded Improvements

This information is for my clients in the Northern Rivers region of NSW and might be incorrect elsewhere!

ATTENTION: a new statement, released by Hon. Peter Garrett on Friday, the 19th of February 2010, advertised fundamental changes to the Green Loans Program! The interest free loans will not be continued after the 22nd of March 2010, subsidies for insulation are cancelled until a new programme will be introduced, and the rebate and conditions to receive subsidies for replacing a electric hot water systems have been changed. Households are, at this stage, still eligible for Free Home Sustainability Assessments, but without qualifying for an interest free loan! 1300 778 451 is the number of a new enquiries hotline if you want to find out how these changes affect you, or complain about missing reports! Some information on this page is now out of date - my apologies!

On this page I would like to provide some extra information to help you choose between the different types of core improvements for which the Energy Efficient Homes Package is offering grant money at the moment.
Most importantly: do your homework before you decide on any investment. Whatever you choose to buy, keep a cool head and conduct any transaction with sensible business behaviour! First you should find out about established companies with a good reputation in your area. Be clear about which product you choose and get at least 3 quotes (don't compare apples with pears, eg. glassfibre insulation with reflective insulation).
 
The federal grant money currently gives you the option to choose one of the following three most important improvements to your home. For more about the different government grants please read my page about Government Grants.

1. Insulation

To install insulation you will receive up to $1,200 federal assistance. There are basically two different types of insulation on the market. The first option is bulk insulation, which comes in the form of rolls or, more commonly, batts and works by trapping pockets of still air between its fibres, retarding the transfer of heat. It can be produced from various base materials, the best known being mineral wool (glassfibre & rockwool) for batts and cellulose fibre as loose fill material, but they are also available in natural wool, polyester fibre and other materials. Glassfibre, rockwool and cellulose fibre can cause allergies, irritation to skin, eyes and upper respiratory tract, and are suspected of being carcinogenic. So with these you really have to make sure that no dust from above your ceiling lining is entering your living space; pay particular attention to cut-outs for down-lights and the edge around the man hole. Check up on your installer!
Natural wool was my personal favorite for a while, but long term experience has shown that it takes up and retains too much moisture which causes the batts to sag and lose a lot of their effectiveness. Which leaves polyester fibre as the best and healthiest option for bulk insulation - but the grant money won't completely cover the extra expense unless your roof area is relatively small. The other aspects to consider with all types of bulk insulation are: extra weight on your plaster board (no problem in most cases), it can absorb and retain moisture, it might even absorb and retain heat during a long heat wave, it is certainly attracting vermin (if you have any near your house), and can raise the fire danger in your ceiling.
The second option for ceiling insulation is reflective material. [update: this material has received some bad press recently. None of this was related to the insulation properties of reflective foil; everything was about faulty installations and resulting hazards when electric cabling in the ceiling was damaged. I still believe that reflective foil with air bubbles is the the best material for local conditions and, if correctly installed, poses no risk. On the 9th of January 2010 the federal government took reflective insulation off the list of items eligible for grant money!]
Reflective insulation works by reflecting large amounts of light and heat (it needs an air pocket to perform well). It also emits very little of the radiant heat it absorbs. Reflective insulation products are generally constructed by laminating aluminium foil with various substrates such as kraft paper, plastic films, reinforcing scrim, polyethylene bubbles (like bubble wrap) or cardboard. Most information shared on the internet suggests that reflective insulation is better suited for warmer climates, since a good quality aluminium foil surface reflects nominally 95% and emits only 5% of radiant heat, so it should be the better option for our North Coast climate. It also carries none of the health risks mentioned above for bulk insulation. The only thing to remember is that dust can drastically reduce the effectiveness of reflective insulation over time, so you will have to keep your roof cavity clean.
You can also find a few products which combine reflective material with bulk insulation, such as Solarwise reflective batts - you'll get the best of both worlds without the space needs and weight of other bulk insulation.
 

2. Heat Pump Hot Water Systems

To replace an electric storage hot water system by installing an energy efficient heat pump, you will receive up to $1,000 federal assistance, plus NSW state funding of $600-1,000, calculated according to the heatpump's RECs value. $300, reduced rebate since the 15th of January 2010.
Heat pumps, that draw heat from the air, use only about one quarter to one third of the energy of a standard electric storage system. They operate like a refrigerator but in reverse. The ambient air is used to heat a refrigerant, which converts to a gas. The gas is then compressed, generating heat, which is transferred to the water. The refrigerant is expanded back to a liquid and the cycle repeats.
In most cases it is very easy to replace a conventional hot water system with a heatpump, since they are about the same size and need the same connections; a straight replacement is more difficult (or often impossible) if your current HWS is placed indoors, like in a garage, under a stair well, or in a linen cupboard, because the heatpump requires a larger volume of air. [The above photo shows a split system; some companies offer integrated systems.]
The other complaint we hear a lot, is about the level of noise a heatpump can produce; again this varies from product to product and depends where you place your HWS.
My main reservation with heatpumps is that there are so many moving parts involved, which will need maintainenance and probable future repairs [what moves will break - compare with Rheems' current warranty for heat pumps: 5 year cylinder warranty, 3 year labour on cylinder, 2 year on sealed systems including labour. only 1 year on all other parts, read compressor, fan, etc., and labour].
Finally heatpumps constantly use electricity from the power grid to operate, although several models can be run on off-peak. Be aware: a number of popular brands of heat pumps have to run during the more expensive peak hours of the day, so get this clear before you commit yourself to a particular model!
 

3. Solar Hot Water Systems

To install an energy efficient HWS you will receive up to $1,600 federal assistance, plus NSW state funding of up to $1,200 calculated according to the solar systems RECs value, which mostly depends on the choice of booster you install. $300, reduced rebate since the 15th of January 2010.
I first installed a solar hot water system in 1995 and I can report that they are an excellent option for this region, even through the rain season. Since then the development of solar hot water systems has progressed dramatically, and there are now several very different systems available. The photo above shows a standard system with the tank on the roof, directly connected with the solar panels. This is still the most commonly found solar hws.
If you want to replace your current electric hot water system it might be easier to connect a split system (2nd photo) to your existing plumbing; only the panels are placed on the roof and the water storage tank can be positioned where your old system sat. The second advantage of these systems is that the weight on the the roof is much lower; many trussed roofs would not carry the weight of a large solar hot water system with a full water tank.
“Evacuated Tube Systems” (3rd photo) are the latest in solar technology: these consist of a row of round glass tubes. Their advantage is obviously that, when the sun travels across the sky and changes it's angle relative to the solar panel, the round tubes catch even last low rays and convert them into energy. These evacuated tube solar systems also help in situations where your roof is partly shaded by a single tree or wrongly aspected.
Finally, it doesn't matter how effective your system is, you will still need a booster to heat the water with another energy source if it remains really overcast for long periods. How long a period this is depends on your usage patterns, but normally after around 3 days without any sunshine, you would want to boost your water temperature. The highest RECs are available for gas boosted systems, but since we don't have gas readily available on the Northern Rivers you would need an LPG booster, and these are pricey. You will probably choose an electric booster and then decide if you want to run it on off-peak power only.
Still, overall I believe that a solar hot water system will provide you with the best use of current government subsidies, both Federal and State, save you a lot of money from day one, and should give you years of trouble free operation combined with the best power and carbon emission savings!
 
More useful information about choosing the right hot water system can be found on this Government Page!

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Several of the above mentioned rebates are in part funded by you, as the householder, trading in your RECs (Renewable Energy Certificates) to the installer. Their current value can be looked up at the “Green Energy Markets” web page. In the long term, with increasing uptake of energy efficient installations, the value of these RECs will probably decrease, so trading them in at current market value is not such a bad choice.

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