Hand over and the keys to our new Douglas 10M

Friday 28 November 2014

I met our Site Supervisor at 9:00 a.m. yesterday (Thursday 27 November) for the final inspection and to be given the keys to our new Douglas 10M.  Pete was unable to attend due to work commitments in Dubbo (about 370 km away in country New South Wales).

The SMEG kitchen appliances, our Dux Sunpro Hot Water Tank, the Crimsafe sliding screen doors (for the Laundry and the Alfesco Cabana area) and the window fly screens will be installed after we notify McDonald Jones Homes about the date when we intend to occupy the new home.

The damaged panels in the B&D Remote Control Garage Door were replaced on Thursday afternoon, 27 November.

I've started to hang the temporary pleated paper window blinds on some of the main windows in the Open Plan Living Area and in Bedroom 3.  Considering our Plantation Shutters are now due to be installed sooner than we had anticipated, I won't bother hanging the rest of the temporary blinds on all the other windows.

Our internal Plantation Shutters are now due to be installed on Saturday 6 December 2014 (just in time for Christmas).

Our concreter has notified us that there will be a delay of a few days now before he can commence laying our new concrete driveway.  He was due to start on next Monday 1 December 2014.  However, due to intermittent rain this week, he is currently delayed with a job that he's already working on elsewhere.

We'll keep this Blog running until all the concreting and landscaping work etc. have been completed.

We commenced this project back in May 2013 and it seems to have taken such a long time to get to this final finishing point.  All the waiting has been so worthwhile.  Pete and I would sincerely like to thank all the people at McDonald Jones Homes who, from day one, have done a sterling job with helping us build such a lovely home to live in.  Our contacts at McDonald Jones Homes were always available and contactable when we needed to get in touch with them.  Every person at McDonald Jones Homes that we dealt with, including their contract workers, were very professional, courteous, safety-conscious, friendly and polite.  We found them all to be honest and excellent workers with great integrity.  They're passionate about their work and they're willing to accommodate any reasonable requests.  We cannot thank them enough.  They've delivered a beautiful new home for us and our 2 [ageing] pet Staffies, Buddy and Taz, to live in.  We'd particularly and sincerely like to thank all the following people at McDonald Jones Homes who have helped us enormously (but for privacy and confidentiality reasons I won't disclose all identifying surnames).

Firstly, we would really like to say a special big "thank you" to Max Borthwick who was our initial contact at McDonald Jones Homes.  His honesty, professionalism, friendly attitude and his helpful nature convinced us that we were making the right decision and validated our reasons to build with McDonald Jones Homes.  After the House Plans were drawn-up Max told us, "this is going to be lovely new home."  He was so right.  Thank you, Max.

Our sincere, appreciative, big thanks also to:

• Jenni;
• Melissa;
• Erin;
• Larissa;
• Alyssa;
• Ben; and
• of course our Site Supervisor, Wayne, who made things happen.  He was fantastic to deal with right throughout construction.  We're very appreciative mate, thank you.

Here's some photos that I took on Thursday night 27 November 2014.

(Click on photos to view enlarged images)

 The keys to our lovely new McDonald Jones Home

Views from near the front entry area 

Before

Above and below - view from near the front entry area taken in June and August 2014 (refer earlier posts)

Above and below - view from near the same front entry area taken in October and November 2014 (refer earlier posts) 

Now

 

Above - view from near the same front entry area taken on Thursday night, 27 November 2014

Above - reverse view taken from inside the Master Suite Bedroom Suite looking back towards the front entry area taken on Thursday night, 27 November 2014.

Love, love, love, love, love the Walnut-coloured Gerflor.

Love, love, love, love, love the Godfrey Hirst Eco+ Sunrise ('Pebblestone' coloured carpet) and the rubber 11mm (100kg/m3) carpet underlay that's been laid in the Master Suite Bedroom, Walk In Robes, and in Bedroom 2 (at the front of the house).  It's super soft and wonderful underfoot to walk on.

  Separate Toilet/WC

Ceramic Solna Latte floor and wall tiles have been laid in the separate Toilet/WC.  Refer to earlier posts for full descriptions and specifications.

At our request, McDonald Jones Homes modified the floor plan and installed a wall-mounted Caroma Liano Hand Wash Basin with Mili Edge flickmixer tapware, a wall-mounted glass shelf and wall-mounted towel ring.

Main Bathroom

 

Shower recess (refer to earlier posts for full descriptions and specifications).

Newbury Island 1700mm Bathtub and Solna Latte ceramic floor and wall tiles (refer to earlier posts for full descriptions and specifications).

Newbury Island 1700mm Bathtub.

 Internal entry stairs and landing area from the rear of the garage

 It will be our responsibility to stain and finish-off the work on those stairs.

Home Theatre Room

Views from the main hallway showing the Home Theatre Room (refer to earlier posts for full descriptions and specifications).

The photo above was taken from the kitchen bench and shows the view to the Home Theatre Room and the Open Plan area opposite the kitchen (refer to earlier posts for full descriptions and specifications).

 Open Plan Dining, Family/Lounge Room and Gourmet Kitchen Areas.

 

The photo above also shows the Computer/Study Desk Area as appears in the Douglas 10M floor plan

These are those temporary, pleated paper, window blinds with draw strings that I referred to in my earlier post.  I'm very impressed and satisfied with them.  They're excellent quality for an inexpensive and temporary, window covering whilst we await the installation of our Plantation Shutters, and it saves having to hang-up bedsheets on the windows.  Refer to my earlier post for the full descriptions, specifications and details about where you can purchase these temporary blinds online for prompt delivery).
 

Our Gourmet Kitchen

Love, love, love our Burgundy/Maroon-coloured Resene Jumpstart Starphire Glass Splashback (refer to earlier posts for full descriptions and specifications).

Our SMEG Stainless Steel 900mm Gas Cooktop, Ducted Rangehood, Underbench Electric Oven, Microwave Oven and Dishwasher will not be installed until we are ready to occupy the new home.  Refer to earlier posts for full descriptions and specifications.
 

Kitchen cabinetry

The colours don't seem right in some of these photos.  The lighting and camera's flash affect the true colouring of the wall paint and the 2-pak Polyurethane Classic 2mm 'Pumice Gloss' colours on the soft-closing cupboards and drawers.

Refer to earlier posts for full descriptions and specifications.   

A bank of soft-closing pot draws appears in the photo above (for storing large pots and saucepans etc.).

 

Views in and from the Master Suite Bedroom (at the rear of the house)

View into the Master Suite's Ensuite Bathroom

 Shower recess in the Master Suite's Ensuite Bathroom. 

Refer to earlier posts for full descriptions, specifications and more photos.   

Above: Godfrey Hirst ECO+ Sunrise ('Pebblestone' coloured) Carpet leading from the Ensuite Bathroom, to the dual Walk In Robes on either side, and into the Master Suite Bedroom.

Left to right in the above photo:

Double-glazed sliding glass doors onto the Alfresco Cabana, Open Plan Family/Lounge Room Area, one of the two Walk In Robes, and the Ensuite Bathroom and wall-to-wall shower recess at the far right.

 Floor Pan for the ‘Douglas 10M’ with Chase façade

Overall Dimensions for the ‘Douglas 10M’ with Chase façade

Dimensions quoted in metres (m).

Home width:	8.45m
Home length:	21.21m
Width of block of land:	12m
Depth of block of land:	49.5m
Size of block of land in square metres:	594m²
Internal Ceiling Height (raised to):	2.70m
Height of doors (raised to):	2.34m

Room Dimensions

Open-plan Family & Dining rooms:	4.4m x 6.6m
Master Suite:	4.1m x 3.6m
Bedroom 2:	2.9m x 2.9m
Bedroom 3:	2.9m x 2.9m
Home Theatre room:	4.1m x 3.5m
Single Car Garage:	3.0m x 5.5m
Alfresco Cabana:	3.0m x 3.9m

 

Patron Saint of the New Home - St. Francis of Assisi

Pete and I have a fondness for St. Francis of Assisi, for the simplicity of his spirituality and philosophy and his love and respect of nature, the ecology and the environment.  This is just one of a number of statues of St. Francis that seem to have found a home with us over the years.

Pete and I have elected St. Francis to be the Patron Saint of our new home and he has taken-up residence before we move in, in a hope that he'll help to protect the new home for us.

Energy Matters - for home solar electricity & energy system

Tuesday 25 November 2014 

This new home is going to be a power-guzzler.  It will be highly dependent upon a lot of electricity to run the home’s ventilation, heating and air-conditioning systems, plus all the electrical requirements for the 4K Ultra High Definition 3D Internet-connected Smart TV’s and computers etc.  Therefore, the more solar energy that we can harvest freely from the Sun, the better for us to mitigate and minimise our future and ever-increasing energy costs as much as possible.

After a lot of research over the past 18 months, we’ve decided to buy a home solar power energy system to be supplied and installed by a highly reputable Aussie company, namely, Energy Matters.  Energy Matters is passionate about high performance solar energy alternatives for the modern home at a very reasonable and competitive cost.  If you’re in the market for a home solar energy system do yourself a big favour and have a look at the following Link which will take you to Energy Matters’ website:

http://www.energymatters.com.au 

Energy Matters have given us an excellent quote of AUD $8,500.00 for the purchase and installation of a 5kW, 3 Phase, grid-connected, solar energy system, which includes:

1.    20 x 250W rooftop mounted, photovoltaic solar panels, specifically, REC poly module Peak Energy Series panels; and

2.    1 x [transformerless] Fronius Symo inverter; and

3.    All rooftop installation work.

REC solar panels

REC is a Norwegian company and their highly reputable solar panels are manufactured in Singapore.

REC Solar panels deliver more power per square metre thanks to a number of design improvements, including the introduction of three bus bars and superior contact between the cell and metal fingers, boosting the electrical flow.  Special glass etching and anti-reflective coating used by REC also improves the power output of the Peak Energy Series in all sunlight conditions.  Using REC solar panels, you can make better use of your valuable rooftop real estate.

REC solar panels display temperature ratings that are best-in-class.  In typical polycrystalline solar modules, the rate of degradation is approximately 0.5% per degree Celsius for temperatures above 25⁰C.  REC have decreased this to 0.4%/⁰C - ahead of the biggest names in the industry.

This feature is one of the many stand-out benefits of REC solar panels in a country such as Australia where temperatures are frequently above 25⁰C.

REC Peak Energy Series modules have also passed the Dynamic Load Test according to IEC 62782 (1000 cycles at 1000Pa with 10 cycles per minute) and have been tested by TÜV to withstand the impact of 35mm hail stones.

REC also features positive watt class rating, meaning the nameplate wattage is the absolute minimum.  REC modules can be up to 5 watts more than the rated power.

Fronius - Inverter system

Inverter system – Fronius Symo 5kW, 3 Phase, east-west compatible inverter

Maximum DC power:          5,000 W

Maximum DC voltage:        1,000 V

Nominal voltage:                    595 V

Minimum input voltage:          163 V

Maximum input voltage:         800 V

Maximum output power:      5,000 W

Maximum strings:                2

Mechanical Characteristics

Height:                                  645 mm

Width:                                   431 mm

Length:                                 645 mm

Weight:                                 19.9 kg

Brand:                                  Fronius

SKU:                                    Symo 5.0-3-M

Background

Fronius is an Austrian (not "Australian") company that has been developing innovative solar power inverter systems since 1992, resulting in highly functional mains-connected inverters set to optimise solar module performance.

Fronius makes grid-connected solar inverters for systems of all sizes that work reliably and efficiently in all Australian conditions.

Fronius was the recipient of the Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Award 2008 for its development of the high-performance Fronius IG Plus PV inverter series and for outstanding service.

Since that time, the company's products have continued to evolve.  In June 2013, the Fronius Galvo and the Fronius Symo were awarded the Plus X Award in the High Quality, Functionality and Ecology categories. Fronius Galvo also won the ‘Best Product of the Year 2013’ Plus X Award.

Specifications:

The transformerless Fronius Symo  5.0-3-M  5,000 watt 3 phase inverter is not only very efficient, it's one of the most communicative units on the market; allowing connection to third party systems with minimum effort.  The inverter is also ‘future-proof’, with upgrades able to be performed through a plug-in card system.

The Advanced Grid Features (AGF) of the Symo prevent grid faults and unexpected failures leading to yield losses.

Fronius Symo 5.0-3-M - Inverter Features

·         Wide input voltage range;

·         2 MPP trackers;

·         WLAN or Ethernet interface;

·         Innovative hinged system;

·         Minimal conduction losses;

·         Ability to connect all strings to the inverter;

·         Plug-in card technology facilitates future upgrades;

·         Smart-grid ready; and

·         Symmetrical infeed means highest yields and contributes to a stable grid.

Symo 5.0-3-M Solar Inverter - Technical Data

  

INPUT DATA	Fronius Symo 5.0-3-M
Max. input current	16.0 A / 16.0 A
Max. array short circuit (MPP1 / MPP2)	24.0 A / 24.0 A
Min. input voltage	150 V
Feed-in start voltage	200 V
Nominal input voltage	595 V
Max. input voltage	1,000 V
MPP voltage range	163 - 800 V
Number of MPP trackers	2
Number of DC connections	2 + 2
OUTPUT DATA
AC nominal output	5,000 W
Max. output power	5,000 VA
Max. output current	13.5 A
Min. output voltage	150 V
Max. output voltage	280 V
Frequency	50 Hz / 60 Hz
Frequency range	45 - 65 Hz
Total harmonic distortion	< 3 %
GENERAL DATA
Dimensions	645 x 431 x 204 mm
Weight	19.9 kg
Degree of protection	IP 55
Protection class	1
Overvoltage category (DC / AC)	2 / 3
Night time consumption	< 1 W
Inverter design	Transformerless
Cooling	Regulated air cooling
Installation	Indoor and outdoor installation
Ambient temperature range	-25°C to +60°C
Permitted humidity	0 % to 100 %
DC connection	4x DC+ and 4x DC- screw terminals 2.5 mm² - 16 mm² 1)
Certificates and compliance with standards	DIN V VDE 0126-1-1/A1, VDE AR N 4105, IEC 62109-1/-2, IEC 62116, IEC 61727, AS 3100, AS 4777-2,  AS 4777-3, CER 06-190, G83/2, UNE 206007-1, SI 4777, CEI 0-21
EFFICIENCY
Max. efficiency	98.0 %
European efficiency (ηEU)	97.0 %
MPP adaption efficiency	> 99.9 %
PROTECTIVE DEVICES
DC insulation measurement	Yes
Overload behaviour	Operating point shift, power limitation
DC disconnector	Yes
INTERFACES
WLAN / Ethernet LAN	Fronius Solar.web / Fronius Solar.web, Modbus TCP, JSON
6 inputs or 4 digital inputs/outputs	Interface to ripple control receiver
USB (A socket) 3)	For USB sticks
2 x RS422 (RJ45 socket) 3)	Fronius Solar Net, Interface protocol
Signalling output3)	Energy management (potential free relay output)
Datalogger and Webserver	Included

¹⁾ 16 mm² without wire end ferrules.
²⁾ and at U_{mpp min} / U_dc,r / U_{mpp max.}
³⁾ also available in the light version.  

 
Since the advent of solar energy systems over the past 40 years or so, solar array panels needed to be mounted on north facing roof tops in Australia in order to achieve optimal harvesting of solar energy.  That's because in the southern hemisphere, a northerly aspect faces towards the Equator.  But... that's not quite the case any more thanks to this latest technology.

The rear of our narrow block of land faces north.  However, our northerly facing rooftop has the smallest and least amount of available roof space.  Therefore we can't mount a rooftop solar array on that roof to harvest and supply our 5kW solar energy system.

Upon our request last year, McDonald Jones Homes agreed to upgrade the standard Natural Gas or Electric Hot Water Service to a Natural Gas-boosted Solar Hot Water Service.  Primarily, it's a Solar powered Hot Water Service.  As a secondary power source and back-up, its operation can be boosted or supplemented by the mains-connected Natural Gas supply.

For generations, until very recently, Australian Natural Gas was a very inexpensive and affordable means of heating and energy for Australian homes, particularly in comparison to the spiralling mains Electricity costs.  However, the cost of the domestic supply of Natural Gas in New South Wales/Australia has recently started to increase significantly.  The cost of Natural Gas to consumers in New South Wales is expected to soar even more until 2016.  From and beyond 2016, the cost of the supply of Australian Natural Gas to domestic consumers will be more equivalent to the international rates that Australian companies are charging for the exportation of Liquefied Australian Natural Gas (LNG) to overseas markets.  With those rising costs, Natural Gas is no longer looking like an inexpensive and affordable energy source.

In our new Douglas 10M, we do have connections to the mains Gas supply.  There are 2 x Gas connections inside the new home, one in the kitchen and the other at our nominated position in the open plan Family/Lounge area (where a Gas heater can be connected to the wall-mounted Gas bayonet, if we ever want to run a Natural Gas heater from that outlet).

In the kitchen, our SMEG cooktop is Gas, not electric.  Conversely, the underbench SMEG oven is Electric and not gas.  Apparently that's because, nowadays, Gas ovens are not flued like in yesteryear, and so Electric ovens are used in combination with Gas cooktops and related rangehoods.

During construction, McDonald Jones Homes installed the 2 x large rooftop solar panels on our north-facing roof.  They will be used to heat the Dux Sunpro Solar Hot Water Service.  The hot water tank will be installed when we are ready to occupy the new home in order to minimise the risk of theft.

With our new home and the advent of Fronius' new east-west compatible Inverter technology, we can now mount the 20 x rooftop REC solar panels on both the east and west facing roofs to maximise the harvesting of our solar energy effective from sunrise to sunset every day.  Traditionally and previously east and west facing rooftops were considered undesirable and less optimal for harvesting solar energy.  That's not quite the case any more thanks to this latest technology.

Any unused, daily, solar energy that our 5kW system doesn't use will be safely fed into the local electricity grid.  That will store-up credits for us to offset the payment for any electricity that we might need to draw back from the local electricity grid, on occasions when our own solar supply is limited or depleted.  With both of us still working in full time jobs and not being at home consuming too much electricity during the daylight hours every weekday, that's a lot of potential, unused, clean solar electricity, that's being fed into the local grid for other consumers to use.  We just have to sort out which Electrical Distributor/Retailer in New South Wales offers the best deal for tariff payments in relation to the above, before we lock ourselves into a contract for a designated period.  I guess it depends on how much they'll pay for us to sell them our solar-generated electricity, and how much they'll charge us to buy and use their Off Peak electricity supply.

There's not much in it for the consumer anymore in the way of Government approved financial incentives which no longer really apply to any new entrants into those schemes in New South Wales.  Going Solar is something that we want to do: to decrease our carbon footprint on this precious planet; and to keep more of our hard earned money in our pockets instead of giving it to the big, exploitative, energy and mining companies through our ever increasing energy and power bills.