Back in 2006

Stefanie Pidcock and her husband were looking for a house to buy in Canberra but were unimpressed with what they had seen.

‘We wanted to buy so we were looking and looked at quite a few houses around Canberra and this one was striking in its loveliness.’

Stefanie said she had been ‘particularly struck by how poorly traditional Canberra houses are designed for the climate. They are really hot in summer and really cold in winter and leak like sieves when you try to heat or cool them.’ She said that quite apart from their new home having to be efficient, comfort was also a priority.

They went to look at three houses built by ActewAGL in Watson to showcase sustainable design. All three were built next to each other, had different architects and combined different sustainability characteristics. On display to the public for a year, at the end of that period they were auctioned. For Stefanie, the choice was clear.

Design and the Performance

We chose Strine’s eHouse because it was the most interesting design, it was very different...

It was very different to standard looking houses and I liked the industrial look and the large proportions of the house.

Also, the people managing the demonstration properties I spoke to confirmed this house had performed the best in terms of temperature regulation.

‘We chose Strine because of the design and performance,’ said Stefanie. ‘This was the only house of the three I was interested in.’

In early 2007, Stefanie and her husband were the proud new owners of a Strine eHouse and they haven’t looked back.

Exceeding expectations

Consistent temperature throughout the year

After seven years in the house and now with two young children, Stefanie says her Strine home has exceeded her expectations when it comes to comfort.

‘In summer this house is just magnificent. We use it according to Ric’s instructions, which means at night we open the solar chimney and let warm air out. When we had several days of 40 ºC outside over summer [2014], inside we did not get above 26 ºC. We had the ceiling fans on the lowest setting just to move air around, but the ambient temperature didn’t get above 26 ºC.’

In winter Stefanie said ‘even when it’s freezing outside it is gloriously warm inside and we need no heating whatsoever—it’s an absolute dream. During the day it’s comfortably toasty and t-shirt weather.

A new experience of 'climate control'

In summer this house is just magnificent

‘In fact there have been times when I’ve been sitting on the couch in sunshine in winter and it’s only single digits outside and I’ve been too hot to move out of the sun.’

Stefanie said that while the house holds its heat to above 16 ºC on a winter’s night, she feels the need for supplementary heating in the evening and first thing in the morning, ‘just to take the chill off’.

Disliking gas as she feels it sucks the oxygen out of the air, Stefanie chose to install hydronic heating, which along with a cavity sliding door between the master bedroom and garden room, were the only functional changes she made to the original specifications.

She said that even with the advent of two young children—now aged six and three—the house was a ‘perfect size’ and they ‘didn’t need to change anything at all’. She said the house was ‘flexible enough, big enough and importantly, adaptable’.