Bonaire

4 Start Bonaire Ducted Heater ~$2000 fully installed with 12 outlet

2 to 3 Zone

$200 a zone

http://www.bonaire.com.au/contact/dealerlocator.aspx

What is a reasonable standard of constuction and workmanship in a building project

What is a reasonable standard of constuction and workmanship in a building project

Read it and know exactly what to look for doing an inspection for you home

http://www.buildingcommission.com.au/resources/documents/S+T_GUIDE_07.pdf

Bathroom lighting Idea

Great source of information

Lots of articles written on good home design can be found at http://designingyourdreamhome.blogspot.com/

 

Common Mistake To Avoid When Planning and Designing

For more information visit http://designingyourdreamhome.blogspot.com/2009/05/mud-room-mistake-to-avoid.html

 

Door

• direction of door swing
• adequate width of doorway for your needs
• doggy door attached to door
• adequate threshold height so door does not get hung up on floor mat or rug when opened

Floor

• non-slip surface
• water and stain resistant
• color or pattern that does not show every speck of dirt
• grout color that will not get dingy over time
• drain in floor if necessary
• height of actual drain lower than the floor surface

Plumbing

• faucet on the wall with sprayer for cleaning floor if necessary (great for sandy areas, farm/ranches, hunting areas, and rainy climates)
• sink in area for miscellaneous use
• dog bath area
• powder room off of mud room

Electrical outlets

• on shelf or in cubby to charge cell phone
• for automatic dog feeder
• for boot warmer or dryer
• for 5-gallon water dispenser
• for vacuum cleaner
• camera battery
• other items that need charging

Backing

• for support holding coat hooks
• for the built-in cubby holes and shelves to attached to the wall
• for a mirror (nice to have a mirror to take one quick look before you leave the house or to put on lipstick as you go out the door in a hurry)
• for other items that might be mounted on the wall

Lighting

• adequate lighting to see what is in a cubby hole or locker
• specific lighting fixture to use as a night light

Built-ins: lockers/shelves/cabinets/cubby holes/drawers

• correct size for tennis racquet to fit
• correct size for skis to fit
• correct size to hang jackets and coats
• adjustable shelves and cubby shelves
• ridge to keep balls from rolling off
• large enough area for dog bed
• area for cat litter box
• place for pet food and pet equipment
• place for dirty clothes basket
• place for dirty shoes box
• enough shelves, cabinets, and cubby holes to hold all items you plan to store (make a inventory list of what you want to store)
• enough drawers to hold all items you plan to place in a drawer (make a drawer inventory list)
• not enough lockers for all household members (don't forget live-in helpers, elderly relatives)

Hallway or Room

• wide enough for your built-ins to fit
• wide enough for your rug to fit
• wide enough for your door mat to fit
• long enough if you want a to locate a specialty room or powder room off of the mud room
• wide enough if you are adding a piece of furniture such as a bench or chair
• space to place an umbrella stand if you so desire
• a place designated for a bike if you keep your bike or bikes inside

Misc.

• not enough coat hooks for jackets, hats, etc.
• no place to sit down to put on and take off shoes
• not enough space for shoes and boots
• clothes drip area for clothes or umbrellas if you live in a rainy climate or run or bike outside even if it is raining
• drip area for waiters to dry if you are a duck hunter (I have seen a pulley system in a mud room that hoists the waiters up off the floor for drying)

Ducted Heating For Home 32sq

Ducted Heating Quote:

Bonaire 4 star rating

For 32 square require minimum 12 outlet

Cost ~ $3700 fully install and warranty

Downlight Efficient Lighting Information Sheet

Efficient Lighting Information Sheet

Full report in details can be found at

http://www.environmentshop.com.au/uploads/docs/Eco%20Lighting%20Information%20Sheet.doc

The Victorian commercial sector spends more than $550 billion on lighting each year.  Lighting is likely to be a major part of your organisations energy bills and some simple changes could save your organisation thousands of dollars per annum.

LAMP EFFICIENCY AND LIFE
Lamp life and efficiencies vary dramatically. The table below gives an indication of the efficiency, lamp life and power consumption from a range of lamps.

Type	Wattage	Voltage	Price $	Lumens/watt	Life (Hrs)
Incandescent Lamp	15 - 2000	Various	Various	7-15	1,000
Low Voltage Tungsten Halogen	10, 20, 35, 50	12	3	12-24	2,000
High Voltage Tungsten Halogen	50 - 2000	240		30	2,000
Compact Fluorescent	8 to 24	240	5 to 20	44-80	6,000 – 15,000
Conventional Fluorescent	20 & 40	240	5	70-100	7,000-20,000
High Efficiency Tungsten Halogen	35 & 50	12	10 to 15	20-45	5,000
Micro Fluorescent	7 & 9	240	20 - 25	52-72	12,000
LED's	Up to 5	12	30 - 100	10-100	Up to 50,000

Note 1: Lumens per watt measures the efficiency of the lamp. (The larger the number, the more efficient the lamp).

 

INCANDESCENT LAMPS
Incandescent lamps or bulbs are the most commonly used type of lighting. They are inexpensive to buy but their running costs are high.

The Australian Government has started to gradually phase out all inefficient incandescent light bulbs.

The first stage of the phase-out plan was an import restriction on inefficient incandescent general lighting service (GLS) light bulbs used for general lighting purposes from 1 February 2009. Incandescent lamps are called:

·        GLS 100w                 

·        GLS  75w                  

·        GLS  60w                  

·        GLS  40w

 

TUNGSTEN HALOGEN LAMPS
Halogen lights are also a type of incandescent lamp. They are more expensive to buy but last up to two thousand hours. They can be either 240V bulbs, which are usually tubular and often used in up lighters and outdoor floodlights, or low voltage bulbs typically used in down lighting. All halogen lamps require special light fittings.  Types of Halogen lamps include:

·        Halogen Lamp MR16 Lamps 35w

·        Halogen Lamp MR16 Lamps 50w

 

FLUORESCENT LAMPS
Fluorescent lamps are the most energy efficient form of lighting for businesses. They work by causing a phosphor coating on the inside of a glass tube to glow. Different types of phosphor give different colour light.  Although more expensive to buy, they are much cheaper to run and can last up to twenty thousand hours. Lamps in this range are:

• T5 28 Watt Linear Fluorescent Tube
  High efficiency T5 28 Watt Linear Fluorescent Tube. A highly effective Fluorescent Tube which produces a bright, natural looking light. Uses 25% less energy than conventional T8 Fluorescent Tubes. Incorporates a slimline design, measures only 16mm in diameter. 12,000 hours average lamp life. Available in a range of colour temperatures.

• T8 Fluorescent Tube
• T12 Fluorescent Tube

 

 

 

ALTERNATIVE TO HALOGEN DOWNLIGHTS

ALTERNATIVE TO HALOGEN DOWNLIGHTS

Reporter: Jonathan Holmes (ABC TV)

Date: 29/06/2007

NOTE ON HALOGEN DOWNLIGHTS from reporter Jonathan Holmes

As the program makes clear, "low voltage" halogen lights are not low energy consumers. The standard halogen downlight uses 50 watts. The transformer in the ceiling uses a further 10-12 watts. The more modern electronic transformers use less - perhaps 3-4 watts - but that's still extra power consumption on top of the 50W bulb. So every downlight (and many people have eight or ten in a room) is using the same amount of energy as a 60 watt incandescent globe. Ten or 20 years ago the same space would probably have been lit by a couple of 60 watts bulbs, or a fluoro strip using a fraction of the energy.

The other major problem with any downlights, and halogens in particular, is the effect they have on insulation. It's illegal to lay batts over the top of any downlight, so there will be a gap in the insulation wherever one is installed. This reduces the effectiveness of ceiling insulation quite dramatically. Because halogens (unlike UCFLs and LEDs, see below) give off so much heat, they are more dangerous - although most insulation is fire-resistant or inflammable, there have been housefires caused by insulation catching fire from halogens. Indeed, the Melbourne Fire Brigade recently stated that there had been an average of 30 house fires each year in Melbourne caused by halogens. It's very important to leave at least 150mm of space between a halogen downlight and any insulation material. You can buy special protectors to put around the downlight in the ceiling. Insulation can be packed right up to the protector. But they're not cheap (around $15 each).

There are viable alternatives for anyone buying a new house or renovating an old one. Ultra Compact Fluorescent downlights cost about $25 (and the cost is going down) and run on mains power, not 12 volt. They use 9 or 11 watts and technically give almost as much light as a 50 watt halogen.

However, there are drawbacks:

1. Their light is more diffuse and less directional. In practice, therefore, you would usually need a few more UCFLs to do the same job as halogen downlights, particularly in spaces (kitchens, workrooms) where high intensity light is needed. They'd still be much more economical to run.

2. UCFLs don't work on dimmers. You can buy UCFLs which can be progressively switched from 100 per cent to 75 per cent to 50 per cent to 25 per cent brightness by successive switching on and off - a bit clunky but it does the same job as a dimmer. These are a bit more expensive than the standard UCFL.

3. They come in cold white and warm white, but some people find the light they give less attractive than the halogens.

4. They take a while - as much as a minute or two - to attain their full brightness when first switched on from cold. So people tend to switch them on and leave them on all evening, rather than switching them off when they leave a room temporarily. Because they only use a sixth of the power, or less, of halogens this doesn't much matter, but it is a disadvantage. (Mind you lots of people leave their halogens on all evening too, gobbling power.)

These disadvantages are more severe when it comes to replacing halogens with UCFLs in an existing ceiling. Mostly the UCFL bulbs will fit in the halogen fittings; if not, the UCFL fittings should certainly fit in the holes made for the halogens. But they won't give the same light effect if replaced one-for-one. If the halogens are on dimmer switches, the dimmers have to be replaced with straight on-off switches. And the 12 volt wiring and transformer have to be replaced with 240 volt wiring, so an electrician is essential and in inaccessible ceilings it can be a fiddly job. All this makes retrofitting UCFLs a pretty expensive exercise. If you have 50 halogen downlights in your home (and many people have more) you're looking at a minimum of $1500 to replace them with UCFLs – plus the cost of an electrician.

The other alternative is the LED (low intensity diode) downlight. They are VERY efficient (3-4 watts) and VERY expensive (more than $100 per unit). They are dimmable and they operate on 12 volts, so wiring and switches don't need to be replaced. They fit in the same holes as the halogens. However many LEDs operate only on special transformers so the old ones would have to be replaced.

The main snag with LEDs, apart from up-front cost, is that they simply aren't as powerful, yet, as halogens. They are fine where a low level of light is required, especially if they're going to be used for long periods (outside garden paths, corridors, hallways) but are not yet suitable for work areas and kitchens. In some cases people put LEDs around the edge of a room and keep brighter lights in the areas where they need more light.

The experts say LEDs are coming along in leaps and bounds. Within a very few years they may be a really good replacement option. Right now, they're not quite there.

The best thing to do now if you have halogen downlights already is to replace the standard 50 watt bulbs with infra-red coated (IRC) bulbs as and when the old ones blow. They are a bit more expensive but use significantly less power. There are 35W IRCs which give the same light as a 50W standard halogen and 20W IRCs which are fine for most areas where intense light isn't required. In all likelihood, as the government's ban on inefficient incandescent bulbs comes into force, the standard halogens will be mandated off the market anyway.

Apart from that, just remember that if you've already replaced your standard incandescent globes with compact fluorescents, your halogens will using around six times as much power, per light, as any other light in the house - so if you're not in the room, turn them off.

And if you're building or renovating, don't let builders, designers, architects or electricians (many of whom know little and care less about energy efficiency) talk you into installing halogens. Ideally, avoid downlights that involve piercing the ceiling altogether, so that you can insulate the ceiling completely.