Plants and landscaping

This is what we are thinking about plants out the front, natives with a few hardy introduced classics like Yukka and Jacaranda.

Out the back we want some citrus trees (oranges, lemons, limes, mandarins) I love how neat these plants are and they produce useful fruits. Would love a mango tree, passion-fruit vine, and a few decorative stuff. I want the garden to be both useful to produce fruit, but nice looking and low maintenance with low water requirements. Our place used to be an orange orchid so I imagine they will do pretty well out here. I secretly want he back yard to have a bit more of a tropical feel, maybe a bali hut or something, some low palms, more yukkas etc.

Pool?

I would love a pool but I don't know yet how to pay for it. Quotes are crazy prices. I would like 3x8 or something, comfortable but not huge. Also I would love for it to be heated with a heat pump setup. In Sydney you can swim in most pools comfortably for 2-3 months of the year, which is fine. Then there is about 2 more months you can put your feet in and drink a beer. But if you have heating you can swim ~9 months of the year and get a whole lot more use out of your investment. Feet in all year round. Because your using it all the time, you take better care of the pool and don't let it green up over winter (something which many do in Sydney).

 Heat pumps are very efficient. Plus I can run it off my solar PV cells so during the day (even in winter), 3-6 hrs of pool heating can occur. This is usually enough to keep the pool significantly warmer and swimable. I will need a cover for it too, to keep the heat in, sun off the water (it breaks down the chlorine) and hopefully any ducks off it. But I want it to be basically uncovered while we are at home, because heck, pools just look awesome.

  Solar tubes verse heat pump and PV solar?

Heat pumps are better heaters, they can work at night, cloudy days, etc. Your PV solar can also power other things like your house, your aircon, your electric car etc. If you have a party, you can say stuff the electricity costs, I want the pool nice and warm. 

Solar

 I LOVE SOLAR. I've been off grid for over 8 years now. We have lived on a little 1kw battery setup that whole time. Now I want something decent. We have 3 phase so I want it to be 3 phase as well. If you are going over 5kw you need 3 phase anyway. So I am shooting for a 6Kw Solar setup with a 5.8 Kw inverter. Most will be on the north roof side, with some on the west (~1.5kw), this is a pretty good compromise as I will still be making decent amount of power in the afternoon, when you want things like air con (cold in summer and warm in winter) on before the night starts. 

Main things the solar will want to offset are:

* Aircon - big 3 phase unit that was a deal with the house. Actron, good brand, decent size.

* Pool filter - will hopefully get a 3 phase pump

* Pool heater - will hopefully get a 3 phase pool heater. 

* Electric car - I WILL get one of these, ideally a 2nd hand model S Telsa. Or a leaf.

 We will have an electric oven, gas burners on it, but gas instant hot water, so really not a big amount of electrical house hold appliances. 

I also want a Powerwall when they come out so I can make the most of the solar even offset evening usage. But expensive.