In mid-2013, David de Vernon, called me up and asked me to help him with some ceiling insulation, he lived in Somerset West somewhere up the mountain, where they regularly experienced sub-zero temperatures outside in winter while living in an uninsulated house. We helped them out with their ceiling insulation issue and he asked us for advice on renewable energy.
We chatted about renewable energy for many visits and many gallons of coffee later I had enough notes to write a book, so I wrote the book and published it on amazon.com in 2015. David bought the book and read it well After he put the book down, David sold his house and lived in a small flat while he had a whole new house built. While designing the house with an architect he hired, he incorporated many of the principles written in the book and originally discussed at his home.
The house was built with floor insulation, wall insulation, double glazed windows, a heat pump to heat the hot water cylinder, an induction cooker, 3 air conditioners and all the appliances in the house were new A +++ super efficiency rated. as well as Led lights, thick ceiling insulation and tinting on the sun-facing windows.
Once the house was built we installed 16 x 330-watt solar panels on a 24 kW lithium battery on a 10 kW Victron inverter. The solar and battery runs everything from the oven to the geyser to the air-conditioners.
They opted for an electric heat pump heated hot water and an electric induction stove top to not be bothered by the need to manage gas bottles. They chose to heating the home in winter with air conditioners to not be bothered by the need to manage wood or gas.
Between David and I, we have effectively created what I believe is the first fully energy-plus home in Somerset West, a house that produces more energy than it consumes over a year.
Since March 2018 they have spent nothing on electricity and have never had a power outage for any reason even though their neighbourhood transformer blew up and left the area without power for a week… twice.
What a time to be alive.