Vladimir Tittl - Coburg North

Coburg North resident Vladimir TIttl has taken many steps in the past few years to increase the thermal comfort of his home while reducing his gas heating bills at the same time.

In 2007, Vladimir signed up to MEFLs Take Action program where he received batts insulation, draught sealing for gaps and cracks around doors and windows, and external shading for his windows.  On top of this, Vladimir took extra steps by installing extra draught sealing, using the ducted floor vents in summer to bring cooler air from the underfloor area up, and installing a fan in his roof to bring down the temperature of the roof space in summer as well as create a breeze.  For heating during this last winter, he has been using the gas space heater in the living room rather than the old central heating system.  This along with the insulation and draught sealing has resulted in a significant drop in his gas bill.

Overall, Vladimir believes there has been a slight difference in making the home more comfortable in summer, and a noticeable difference in wintertime household temperatures, but there are more actions he is looking to take.  In the future, Vladimir wants to try reflective insulation to keep the summer heat out, install insulation in his walls and under the floor, and find a way to get easy natural ventilation in the children’s room.

Through the Take Action program, temperature sensors were set up throughout the rooms in Vladimir’s home as well as in the north and south eave to measure the outside temperature.  The graph below compares the 2007/2008 summer (before the thermal performance measures were implemented), with the 2008/2009 summer (after the measures were implemented) for days where the outside temperature reached above 30 degrees.  It looks at the average number of hours per day each room spends above the uncomfortable threshold of 26 degrees.

The extent of time spent at uncomfortable temperatures was lower for 1 to 4 hours in the habitable rooms during hot days in the 08/09 summer.  Due to the lower average outdoor temperatures (EaveNth & EaveSth) on hot days in the 08/09 summer and the north, south, and entrance rooms having access to air conditioning, it is difficult to know to what extent this reflects the impact of the thermal measures.

The graph below shows the average hourly temperature of the entrance of the home during hot summer days, again comparing the 07/08 summer with the 08/09 summer.

There is a considerable drop in temperature from one summer to the next, however, since the north and south eaves reported a drop in temperature, and this room had access to air conditioning, it is difficult to tell how much of the drop in temperature was due to the thermal performance measures.