Smart ways to cool your home
Stay cool with reverse cycle air conditioning and passive cooling
Summer is on its way and the temperature is rising - it's a great time to plan how you’ll keep your home cool and comfortable.
During warm weather, maintaining the temperature inside your home is effected by both active and passive cooling.
Active cooling refers to appliances such as fans and reverse cycle air conditioners, while passive cooling refers to using design choices to limit how much heat your home gains and loses.
Active cooling with Love Bayside, Electrify Everything
Fans are a cheap and effective way to stay comfortable, but they don’t reduce the air temperature.
Reverse cycle air conditioners are highly energy efficient and can both heat and cool your home. They operate by extracting the heat from the air inside your home and exchanging it with cooler air from outside.
We can help you identify the right reverse cycle air conditioner for your home through the Love Bayside, Electrify Everything program. The program helps you improve energy efficiency and reduce your bills, making your home a cleaner, healthier environment.
Love Bayside, Electrify Everything can help you select energy efficient appliances including hot water heat pumps, reverse cycle air conditioners, and induction cooktops) for installation by a council-vetted installer.
Want to learn more about Love Bayside, Electrify Everything? Contact us by email at sustainability@bayside.vic.gov.au or have a discussion with program partner Yarra Energy Foundation on 03 7037 6040.
Register your interest in Love Bayside, Electrify Everything
Set and forget with passive cooling
Passive cooling is a cost-effective way to improve your home's thermal comfort, reduce energy consumption for heating and cooling, and increase resilience to extreme weather events.
While often installed during construction or home renovations, passive cooling can also be retrofitted into existing homes.
The five key elements to consider with passive cooling are:
- Insulation: installed in the ceiling, walls and floors of your home, insulation acts as an esky in summer to keep the heat out and a thermos in winter to keep the heat in.
- Window design and coverings: this could be through glazing, external and internal shades, sealing gaps around frames, or considering window orientation during building/renovating.
- Draughtproofing: sealing gaps and cracks in areas such as windows, doors, fireplaces, and floorboards. It’s cheap and relatively easy to do yourself.
- Ventilation: important in keeping airflow and reducing condensation, which can result in mould or dampness. This could be as simple as regularly opening windows or as involved as installing mechanical ventilation such as ducts and fans.
- Landscaping: selecting and positioning plants to provide shade and protection against wind can be effective, and easy to plant at any time.
Not sure where to start? Conduct a home energy assessment to see which areas to prioritise. You can do this by registering for a free Residential Efficiency Scorecard Assessment, fully funded for homeowners and tenants by the Victorian Government.
Alternatively, you can conduct your own assessment by borrowing a Home Energy Efficiency Kit from the Bayside libraries. The kit includes tools such as a digital light meter, CO2 monitor, and even a thermal camera which helps to detect draughts. To borrow the kit, you must have completed the free registration to be a library member.
Learn more about cooling your home efficiently
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