How exciting El Bee.
I live in a similar rural climate. Everyone with bottled gas for heating (and anything else) constantly remarks how expensive it is. It’s really expensive to run.
The most efficient heating type is reverse cycle air conditioning. The Daikin US7 has a COP (coefficient of performance) of up to 7. What that means (in lay person’s terms) is that one unit of energy produces 7 units of heat. Most other brands have a COP of up to 5. COP is also affected by the size of the unit and the temperature where the compressor is located (usually outdoors) Other forms of electric heating have a COP of 1 at best.
An alternative could be wood fired or heat pump hydronic heating and water heating. It gives a much nicer heat than ducted and may be cheaper to run if you can source your own wood. If you buy firewood then the economics may not work for you. Whether a heat pump system will work for you in winter, which is when you need heating, depends upon how many sunny days you get in winter. It still needs to be powered by some electricity but is efficient.
The best solution is to build a house that requires very little heating or cooling (or even none) using solar passive design principles. Good places to start are the yourhome.gov.au website, the alternative technology association website (although it can get bogged down in debates about technology) and renew and sanctuary magazines.
If your house is oriented correctly, right amount of shading, cross ventilation, insulation, right materials etc then you may need very little heating or cooling at all. Good orientation and cross ventilation costs nothing but will reap huge benefits in terms of comfort and liveability, and reduced reduction on energy to heat and cool the house.
For me, I would prefer the master separate to the kids rooms unless there is a solid reason for grouping the bedrooms together. It’s good to be close to kids when they’re little and need you during the night, once they are older you might want more privacy for adult activities. Teens typically go to bed later than their parents and there are likely things you don’t want them to hear.
If possible it’d be great to get the loo out of the bathroom. Especially for morning rush time. Even though there’s another loo in the laundry.
Think about wood storage too. Accessible to the house and easy access for the delivery truck. You don’t want to be pushing wheelbarrows of wood up a steep slope. Some wood storage inside is also a good idea so you don’t need to dash out in the cold to stock up on wood all the time.
And finally, possibly more pantry space. If you are not close to a major town or decent food shopping then you may have longer between shopping trips and need more storage for food. It doesn’t need to be fancy. Just bigger.
Think about using a building designer or architect with an understanding of sustainable design and solar passive principles in your climate. Or if designing yourself then going with a builder who understands these principles and has worked on similar projects in the past. They’ll have great insights about what works in your climate.
Is there a sustainability or permaculture group in the area? They’ll probably be a great source of information and contacts.
Good luck with the build.
Q
Granny flat
Q