4 September, 2012 10:27AM AEST

The eight star solar passive house

Peter Reefman's house in Portland is a shining example of how to build a house which generates far more energy than it uses.

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Sun on the back of the houseSun streaming into the living and kitchen areaThe thermometer doesn't lieVegetable plots in the backyardThe chook shedCircuit monitorsAn energy saving LED globePeter Reefman outside his house in Portland

Peter Reefman wasn't always a crusader for solar passive design - as he explains, when he built his first house he didn't adhere to any solar passive principles and ended up with an energy hungry home much like the majority of homes in our part of the world.

His second house almost accidentally incorporated some solar passive elements and went a long way to opening his eyes to the potential advantages of solar energy.

The house Peter and his family currently live in has an eight star rating and was designed and built by Peter to be as efficient as possible, as well as to showcase how simple a solar passive house really is.

Finding the right block is usually the first hurdle when thinking about creating a house like this - according to Peter most housing estates aren't laid out to make best advantage of potential house orientation, so you need to choose carefully when picking the right block for a solar passive house.

Modern housing design is also often not very friendly when it comes to maximising sun exposure - Peter's house is a long two story building, as opposed to the more usual house layout which might feature rooms coming from a central hallway.

Making the house work requires some diligence - in the winter the concrete slab needs to soak up as much sun and warmth as possible through the day, and once the sun goes down the thick curtains on all the windows need to be drawn to keep the heat inside.

According to Peter the house usually reaches around 22 - 23 degrees in the winter and only loses one or two degrees between sundown and midnight if they close the curtains at the right time.

So far this year they've only needed to turn the heater on about 10 times meaning they've spent a grand total of less than seven dollars on heating this winter.

Peter has also installed circuit monitors on all the electrical circuits in the house so he can closely and accurately monitor how much energy each appliance is using.

There are plenty more energy saving tips and touches built into the house from the size of the doors to the LED globes in the light fittings.

Peter's house will be open this Sunday from 9 to 5 for sustainable house day and he'll be happy to answer any of your questions during the opening.

The house is located at 8 Aquarius Court in Portland.