While you’d never know it walking past, this unassuming 1860s brick cottage in Fitzroy hides a beautiful light-filled extension at the rear.

It’s a relatively small and narrow home, but the rental feels just right for Zoe Cuthbertson (co-owner of creative catering business Undressed) and artist Richard Healy, who moved in just before the birth of their daughter Rafaela.

But like most heritage homes, there’s always room for improvement when it comes to comfort.

‘The back of the house — the renovated section — is very cosy,’ Zoe says.

‘Gone are the days of needing a hot water bottle! But the front room (Richard’s study) can get quite cold or hot. The beautiful 100-year-old door also moves around in extreme temperatures, letting in the elements — as does the open fireplace.’

We visited the family with home comfort and energy advisor Tim Forcey to hear how the renters can better manage their energy bills this winter.

Heating and cooling

Zoe and Richard currently use the home’s built-in hydronic radiators to keep the house warm in winter and run the split-system units for cooling in summer.

‘Funnily enough, we didn’t even realise we had an air conditioner in the living room until very recently — it was so stylishly hidden — so perhaps that’s saved us some cash (but sacrificed our comfort) over time!’

These units are the most efficient way to both heat and cool the home, so Tim advises the family to run them as much as they need: ‘The radiant and hydronic heat is nice, but it’s always much cheaper to use air con for heating. Plus, they are electric, so this isn’t affected by international conflicts or price hikes.’

Looking at the household’s bills, Tim estimates they are currently paying about $10 a day, but this could go down to as little as $3 a day if they revert to using the air-con units alone.

Draught proofing

As renters, Zoe and Richard are quite limited in what changes they can make to improve the home. Luckily, there are plenty of renter-friendly options when it comes to draught proofing.

‘The idea with draught proofing is to be in control of our temperature,’ Tim says.

Richard points out there’s quite a large draught coming through from the wonky heritage front door, which Tim says can be fixed with a door seal, adhesive draught tape or even painters’ tape — anything that can be easily removed at the end of the lease.

Rafaela’s bedroom also gets quite cold every morning, due to the old French doors. Tim says these could benefit from a similar solution, as brands like Ecomaster have a whole kit designed especially for these kinds of doors.

The chimney in the front room is responsible for another big air leak (and Richard says you can sometimes even see water droplets when it rains!) that can also be plugged up with a big piece of foam.

Windows and insulation

While the windows at front of the house are original, the rear renovation features sweeping double-glazed doors that frame beautiful views of the internal courtyard. This is a huge bonus, and likely why Zoe describes the living space as being warm and cosy.

There are also some skylights with electric covers in this part of the house. ‘I’m not normally a fan of skylights because they let a lot of heat in the summertime, but the electrical ones are great because they have the shade covers,’ Tim says.

However, using his temperature gun, Tim reads the temperature around the skylight at 32 degrees, while the roof itself, with all its insulation, sits at 20 degrees.

‘It proves how much heat you’re letting in, even on a mild autumn day like today,’ he notes.

Upon inspecting the roof, the insulation in the front of the house ‘could be significantly improved’, which is something Zoe and Richard could ask their landlord to consider if they remain here long-term.

Cooking and hot water

Tim says it’s great to see the kitchen with induction electric cooktop — reducing the household’s need for gas. The hot water unit, however, is powered by gas, and any upgrades to this would fall under the responsibility of the landlord.

The existing shower heads are already quite efficient (in other words, they’re not letting out excessive amounts of water). But if they did need improving, Tim notes buying a flow restrictor from the hardware store is an easy, low-cost upgrade that’s renter-friendly.

Overall

Tim’s unofficial rating for the house sits around three stars out of 10, as per the Victorian residential efficiency scorecard. This is about the average, even though this home’s smaller footprint does make it slightly more efficient to operate.

Given the limits as renters, Tim says a bit of draught proofing would be the best way to make a ‘big impact’. Thicker blinds for the windows at the front of the home could also be beneficial.

‘If you can get through the winter using half as much gas, that would be a big win,’ he adds.

Next steps

Zoe says the family was intrigued to hear both the sustainable and cost savings on offer from some of Tim’s suggestions.

‘As the weather cools down, we’ll definitely give the reverse cycle a go as our main source of heating. I love the coziness of the radiators, but it would be nice to see our bills go down.’

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