Techno meets eco at the Jetsons

www.smh.com.au
August 15, 2010

THE modern family living in the NSW home of the future has halved its energy consumption.

Clare Joyce, Michael Adams and their daughter Ava, 4, have a home in the Olympic suburb of Newington fitted out with the most efficient heating, air conditioning and domestic appliances, some of them not yet on sale. The technology in use will become familiar with more widely available broadband speeds, although the house has an ADSL+ line with a theoretical speed of 12Mbps. In the first two weeks they consumed 205kW hours of electricity - less than 15kW/h a day.

When they lived in Annandale, in a semi-detached terrace with wooden floors, high ceilings and long corridors, they had to huddle around an electric heater and their electricity consumption was more than twice as high. The saving comes despite cool weather and Clare running a clothes drier. The family is living rent-free after winning a competition to be guinea pigs for EnergyAustralia and Sydney Water. The house generates all its own power using a ceramic fuel-cell, solar panels and new battery storage technology. Other features include a solar pergola roof. LED chandelier, a kitchen floor made from old tyres and chairs made from recycled car batteries.

But not everything is completely perfect for the family nicknamed The Jetsons. Clare, a video services director for a communications agency said: ''The cooker doesn't make guaranteed good cakes... In my defence I have never made a cake before.'' There are other minor issues: the recycled glass splashback in the kitchen is tricky to clean; dirt, hair and bits of dropped food cling to the recycled rubber floor and it's not easy to sweep; the LED TV is slow to activate because of the equipment that ensures it is not on standby.

Michael, a freelance writer and author, said: ''The shower heads are huge but our goal here is to reduce our water use so we only stay under for four minutes.'' Smart sockets monitor the energy consumption of all devices and relay data to a central portal. The family can log in from any computer or an iPhone to check everything is turned off. They will get an electric car to replace their Honda Jazz. Many family items are in storage during the trial. ''It will be interesting to see which [appliances] we want to keep,'' Michael said.