Thursday, March 11, 2010

BASIX Issues

BASIX decision came back today with the following issues:

This house was quite difficult to get through BASIX, mainly due to the overgrazing (specifically to the front facade), coupled with limited ventilation (i.e. fixed window panels).

Please see items below required for BASIX compliance: (This will be enforced regardless of option selected)
1. Upper Rumpus front facade bank of windows to be 30% openable (i.e. 1 of the 3 panels to be openable)
2. Bed 4 front facade bank of windows to be 30% openable (i.e. 1 of the 3 panels to be openable)
3. Provide a fixed outdoor clothes line (receives a minimum of 2 hours sunshine in winter)
4. Provide a fixed indoor or sheltered clothes line

In addition to the above, we also need ONE of the following options:

OPTION A
5. Provide energy efficient lighting (LEDs, standard or compact fluoros) to all bathrooms, toilets and the laundry (You would need to ensure you let the Electrical consultant at the HOG know so they can include in your electrical quote if you go with this option)
6. Provide DEDICATED energy efficient lighting (LEDs, standard or compact fluoros) to all remaining rooms, all hallways ( You would also need to ensure this is communicated at your electrical consolation)
(BASIX definition - Dedicated, in relation to light fittings, means a light fitting that is only capable of accepting fluorescent or LED (Light Emitting Diode) lamps. It will not accept incandescent, halogen or any other non-fluorescent or non-LED lamps).

OPTION B
5. Provide energy efficient lighting (LEDs, standard or compact fluoros) to 3xbed/study, 5xliving, kitchen, all hallways ( Electrical consultant will need to be advised to include in quote- By Client)
6. Provide ZONED A/C (zoned day/night between bedroom and living)


OPTION C

5. Provide energy efficient lighting (LEDs, standard or compact fluoros) to 3xbed/study, 2xliving, all hallways ( Electrical consultant will need to be advised to include in quote- By Client)
6. Provide a solar (gas boosted) HWS ( Additional charges will apply as this is not a standard inclusion, EBH only provide a Instantaneous gas Hot water unit in the Basix package)

I really think OPTION B is the best option specially with the A/C zoned. My little girl loves the A/C and we can't afford to be running the system for the entire 46square-house to cool up 1 tiny person. :) Not very environment friendly as well, so for those reasons I've picked OPTION B. :) We just have to be patient with the flouros taking its time to light up though. :)

5 comments:

  1. Hi alanamaree, we went with the zoned a/c as well.

    HOG was great with the lighting etc.

    We didn't have too much difficulty getting our BASIX approval. We had to increase our rainwater tank to 5,000L (double the standard). due to the roof size and size of land.

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  2. Hi angie,

    did you pick the compact flourescent? are they really that slow to go bright? what about the standard lights - are they really really bright? do they have nice options for these types of lighting?

    we're not required to have rainwater tank because the area have access to recycled water. did you have issue with BASIX at first then selected the zoned A/C option or did you select it at once? we weren't given that option initially so we didn't know until I got the Basix result - i would've selected that at once if i knew.. i thought zoned a/c is the standard way of installing it hehehe...

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  3. We have downlights in all living areas, billiard, alfresco and standard bayonets in bedrooms, formal sitting, study, library, laundry, upper rumpus, my sewing room, and pantry (has a motion sensor).

    We have no fluros at all.

    I'm pretty sure the zoned aircon is standard, I don't recall getting offered anything else... we have 3 zones, 1.living, (kitchen, dining, billiard) 2.lounge (which is formal sitting, study and sewing room) and 3.bedrooms, upper rumpus and library.

    You are lucky that you don't have to worry about the rainwater tank.. the 5,000 litre slimline cost double the standard!

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  4. Hi Alana,

    Might be worth checking out this as an option - last year my father purchased a house that had recently been built by an owner who had decided to invest in insulating the walls as well as the ceiling in order to keep the internal temperature more stable and manageable. This is a practice that is very common in other parts of the world but not often in Aust. The initial outlay / cost can be recovered over the first couple of years via the savings in heating and cooling costs. My father only has to put the air con or heater on for 20 mins and the internal temp of the house will remain stable due to the insulation = no need to run a heater or air con for hours to heat the house.

    It is up to you however I would check the running costs of the AC and do the math to see if this may be of use.

    Good Luck! Let me know if this helps.

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  5. Hi Angie - I like downlights as well - i like the ones with controller (can dim and brighten).

    Hi Dozer - yeah, wall insulation is part of Council and Basix requirements now.. we have it at our current house too and it really helps having that... the simply better sale package with EB includes R1.5 rating of the wall insulation which is the minimum requirements, but because we've signed up with the upgrade we're going to have a better rate (R2.0) wall insulation.

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