zoned separate living area with sliding glass doors to minimise heating when not in use, swopped all internal doors to solid core...fabulous for sound insulation, replaced all taps and showers with low flow and upgraded all electrical wiring...replaced all windows and doors with double glazing and new insulating curtains...replaced all flyscreen doors with security screens to improve airflow without compromising security and about to install external window shutters and roller blinds to screen noise and unwanted summer heat

Well done all contributors - you're helping to save the planet as well as helping yourselves live more comfortably. People considering installing PV solar should also carefully consider hot water panels if your water heating is electrical. Size for size, a hot water panel gives about five or six times the saving that a PV panel will do. Of course installing both is best. I'm still smarting from the "head in the sand" attitude of lines companies charging solar users higher line charges. I think we are going to need a government ruling to stop this illogical practice. Surplus Electricity that leaves your house travels a few metres along the street cable into the neighbours house, it doesn't even make it past the local street transformer in most cases. It reduces wear and heat on the street transformer, which would last longer if half the people had solar PV installed. What do other readers think about the lines company charges?

We had 8 Solar panels fitted 5 years ago, this more than halved our electricity bill, 3 years ago we decided to add another 8, from that day on we have had a nice rebate amount each year, the 1st year we bought a dishwasher from the rebate, then waited 2 years for a double door fridge, this year we bought a nice big washing machine, December 2016 we also installed a 2 panel solar hot water system, got rid of our gas system as we had the solar panels for backup, we have had a pretty long winter with very little sun this year and have only turned on the electric hot water switch once for an hour for our showers, we are over the moon with both the solar system's.

oklouise, after reading your story I have to ask, you say you have replaced all doors and windows with double glazing and are about to install external window shutters and roller blinds to screen noise - my question as we are considering installing double glazing windows - does not the double glazing shut out noise - we live opposite a school and the continual cars and car door shutting, ALL DAY, really gets on our nerves, we have continual dogs barking at the cars and the people from the cars.

our double glazing and solid core doors and double brick walls and garages and 2m brick courtyard walls towards the street certainly help reduce street noise (including 4000 passing cars every day..yes, we counted!!) as long as you never want to open a window or sit outside...unfortunately we're probably super sensitive after living in the bush for many years as other people can't understand our complaints but we'll add the double glazing again as soon as we find something in a much quieter area

Hi Wendan, we recently got double glazing installed to replace large sliding doors and windows. In some cases some noise is now more noticeable. I queried the installer and he said it happens a bit. The glass changes the type of noise that enters the house due to frequency. For example, I almost never hear our neighbours loud TV any more, but sometimes notice low pitch traffic noise from further away (less ambient noise to dull the hum). There is apparently specific double glazing for noise reduction, which wasn't something we considered when we were retrofitting, but possibly would've been good to know (two points in the house seem to be more affected by this, rather than the whole place). The other thing I'll mention is the frames. After lots of research we decided to get sliding units, essentially replacing like for like style. We had trouble trying to work out why casement style provided better thermal properties, other than being told the seal is better. The main difference now appears to be in the design/manufacture. Casements come as a complete unit, no gaps in the frame. Sliders come in two pieces with windows inserted into the frame in situ. This results in small air gaps between the frame and window due to the need for wiggle room. Annoying that we didn't find this out until after the event, seems like a bit of a flaw. Overall though, the glazing seems better than the almost 30yo bog standard stuff we previously had. Looking forward to summer with low-e glass and hopefully less heat entering the house.

I'd like to hear experiences with Magnetite retro fit window insulation mainly for temperature control keeping out the Canberra winter.