Your New Home Checklist
This checklist is a useful reminder of features that can add value to your home and make it a more comfortable place to live. You can use it when you're comparing different homes and products. You might also want to use it as a reminder list when you're talking with sales staff and builders.
Getting started
- Our family's 'must haves':
- Our family's 'wish list':
- Number of bedrooms:
- Number of bathrooms:
- Other important features for us:
- Our budget range:
Tips
- Make sure your 'must have' list includes features that save on running costs and enhance resale value, like good insulation and an efficient hot water system (see Selecting heating & cooling).
- Think about how often your family might use a formal living or dining area before you add them to your 'must have' list.
Choosing where to live
- Suburbs or estates our family is considering:
- Will we be close to everything we need - shops, schools, parks, public transport, etc?
- Our location 'must haves':
- Best location for us would be:
- Will we be able to position a home on our block so it has good access to sun, ideally with the long side or back facing north (or close to north)?
- Will any neighbouring buildings have an effect on our block's privacy, views or access to winter sun?
- Best block for us:
Tips
- Check the bus and train routes near your preferred location - how long will it take to walk to the nearest bus stop or train station?
Choosing our new home - Orientation
- Homes our family is considering:
- Our preferred home:
- Is it a functional floor plan without wasted space and with plenty of storage?
- What would we change about this plan?
- Will our preferred home fit well on our block with living areas facing north (or close to north)?
Tips
- Talk to your builder about making no cost or low cost changes - for example, can you flip or rotate the plan?
- If you have a steeply sloping block, choose a split-level or raised floor design.
Choosing our new home - Comfort
- The star rating of our home will be: (Will we score 6 stars or more?)
- Is there good insulation under roofs, in ceilings and in walls?
- Do we need floor insulation?
- Do our windows predominantly face north?
- Are our north-facing windows shaded by eaves or overhangs?
- Are our east and west-facing windows shaded by adjustable shutters?
- Do we need to consider double glazing? Where?
- Will we use curtains with pelmets to help keep in heat? Where?
- Comments, things we'd like to change about our home design:
Tips
- Consider adding extra doors to close off rooms for ease of heating and cooling - this will also reduce your electricity costs.
- Ask your builder whether your ceilings will be high enough to accommodate fans - this can help save on cooling costs.
- If you have views to the west, east or south, use small picture windows to capture the view while minimising unwanted heat loss or gain.
- Make sure your eaves are wide enough to provide good shade - the Your Home Shading factsheet explains how to size eaves correctly.
Working with you builder - Our living areas and kitchens
- The living areas we need are:
- Can our living areas be divided up as needed, for economical heating and cooling?
- Will our living areas get plenty of sunlight in winter?
- Will our living areas be shaded in summer?
- Can windows be opened on more than one side of living areas to let cooling breezes through?
- Comments, things we'd like to change:
- Is our kitchen set out so there is easy reach between different activities?
- Do our kitchen cupboards use low emission particle board and finishes?
- Comments, things we'd like to change:
Tips
- Think about including a multi-bin sorter and compost container when you're choosing your kitchen garbage system - this can make recycling much easier for the whole family.
Working with your builder - Our bathrooms, laundry, bedrooms and home office
- Will our bathrooms and laundry have a window for natural ventilation?
- Have we chosen fixtures that will save water?
For example, do our bathrooms and laundries have 3-star showerheads, 4-star toilets and 3+ star taps? - Comments, things we'd like to change:
- Can we swap some rooms around so the bedrooms will be cooler in summer?
- Comments, things we'd like to change:
- Will we use the home office a lot?
- Will it be a sunny, pleasant place to work?
- Comments, things we'd like to change:
Tips
- Consider features that make your home safe and easy to live in as you get older.
- Use the Top 3 water users calculator on the Your Home website
Our heating and cooling
- Do we have a north-facing roof for solar hot water?
- Do we have a gas connection?
- Type of hot water system we're looking for:
- Have we locked in good design features to avoid or reduce our heating and cooling needs?
- Can we use fans or evaporative coolers instead of air conditioning?
- Would a solar air heater work for us?
- Does our gas heater have a high star rating?
- How can we save further on heating and cooling?
- Will we use electricity from renewable sources?
Tips
- Use the hot water system chart to help choose your hot water system.
- Use the hot water calculator on the NABERS website to calculate your hot water costs: www.nabers.com.au.
- Consider fans or evaporative coolers instead of air conditioning.
- If you're planning to use gas heaters or air conditioners choose one with a high star rating.
- If you're planning on central heating or air conditioning make sure it's zoned and not oversized.
- The compressor unit of an air conditioner can be noisy so think carefully about where to locate it.
Our fittings and appliances
- Does our home design make good use of natural light?
- Our lighting requirements:
- The costs of running our lighting per year:
- How we can save on lighting costs:
- The energy star rating of our fridge:
- The water star rating of our washing machine:
- Our other major energy-using appliances:
Tips
- Work with your lighting consultant to choose energy saving lighting.
- Don't go overboard on downlights. Lighting a room with many energy saving downlights can still use more energy than a single inefficient light.
- Use the Lighting and White goods calculators on the Your Home website to work out how you can save on energy bills: www.yourhome.gov.au.
- Install an outdoor clothesline - let the sun dry your clothes for free instead of paying to run a dryer.
Our colours & finishes
- The types of flooring in our home:
- The timbers used in our home:
- The paints and varnishes used in our home:
- Examples of colour schemes that we like:
- Have we specified materials that are either low emission or natural products?
Tips
- Make sure timber used in your home comes from certified sustainably managed forests - ask your builder to get assurances from suppliers.
- Consider alternative options like bamboo or recycled timber flooring - these are stylish, durable and environmentally friendly.
- Check that cupboards, floor finishes, paints and varnishes are either natural or low emission products.
Our outdoor living
- Will our alfresco areas get sun in winter and be cool and shady in summer?
- Will we use local native plants, drought-resistant plants and mulch in our garden, to save water?
- Will we grow our own vegetables and herbs?
- Comments, things we'd like to change:
- How many litres will our rainwater tank hold?
- What will our rainwater tank be plumbed in to?
- Will we reuse our wastewater? If so, where will we collect it from and where will we use it?
Tips
- If you don't want one big rainwater tank you could try a series of smaller, connected tanks.
- If you have a pool, use a pool cover to reduce evaporation.
- When planting trees take care to place them so their roots won't damage walls or footings.
- Choose 'permeable' paving that allows rain to soak through or between pavers.