On the hottest Jan 26 in 20 years we took a trip down the river into Circular Quay. Here’s what we saw. (Click through for more pics.) Of course we also saw the Opera House (in which we saw Charlie & Lola’s Best Bestest Play, which was indeed the bestest) but the photo did not …
Wow, six months in the smart home have flown by. So what has changed since we last reported our energy consumption and energy generation stats last October? Drum roll please. Okay, not a lot! The house is consuming 8-10 kWh per day. The solar is generating 4 kWh per day (on average) The BlueGen generates …
It sounds as totally illogical as, well, Lady Gaga’s very existence, but the December 20 & 27 issue of The New Yorker has a very thought-provoking article that discusses whether increases in energy efficiency don’t make a difference overall because we more than make up for them in increased energy consumption. This is known as …
The soft furnishings in the Smart Home are from Eco Inspired, who use natural fibres designed with organically derived patterns created from inks that don’t harm the environment. And what’s not to love about that? Here’s our outdoor setting. Here is Ava, seated next to some of the lounge-room cushions, irritated that her Just Dance …
While we were road-tripping from Sydney to Melbourne and back again over the Christmas-New Year break (and in the process proving that it is possible to avoid even one “Are we there yet?” and feel like a child-free couple if you let said child use your iPad to play Angry Birds and watch Annie during …
Most of the Smart Home’s energy-efficient gadgetry works really well without us having to think twice about it. Appliances such as the dishwasher and the heat-pump dryer are the latest thangs but they’re tried and tested and are now on the consumer market. But the Climate Wizard, the Smart Home’s cooling system, is truly trial-and-error …
Our summer holiday — the first we’ve taken since before Ava was born — was as traditional as it gets: the great Aussie road trip. Sadly, with the i-MiEV not yet able to be juiced up at quick-recharge points around the country, we had to do our journey the old-fashioned way: in a petrol-drinking car. …
