Heating And Cooling In An Accessible Dwelling

For most people, an uncomfortable room is an inconvenience. You add a layer, open a window, or go somewhere else.

For a resident who cannot do any of those independently, the conditioning system is the only variable, and that changes what it has to do.

What is different

**The resident may not be able to adjust their clothing.** Temperature regulation that most people do without thinking is unavailable.

**They may not be able to move to another space,** so a dwelling where one room is comfortable and another is not has a smaller usable area than its floor plan suggests.

**They may not be able to report discomfort,** which means the system cannot rely on somebody saying it is too hot.

**Some conditions affect thermal regulation directly.** Certain medications and certain disabilities reduce a person's ability to regulate their own temperature, which narrows the safe range considerably.

**Equipment generates heat.** A bedroom with a powered bed, a hoist and a communication system runs warmer than the plan suggests.

Which is why thermal comfort in a Specialist Disability Accommodation dwelling is treated as a requirement rather than a specification line, and why it sits inside the [standard](/standards) MADE builds every dwelling to.

Start with the fabric

The most reliable conditioning system is a dwelling that does not lose the temperature it has.

Insulation, glazing, orientation, shading, thermal breaks and air sealing together decide how hard the mechanical system has to work and how evenly the dwelling holds temperature.

A factory-built envelope is sealed to a tolerance a site-built one struggles to achieve, because it is assembled indoors, in sequence, with each layer inspected before the next covers it. That is the substance of [thermal performance in a factory build](/blog/energy-and-thermal-performance-in-modular).

Getting the fabric right does more for a resident than a larger unit does, and it costs less to run for the life of the dwelling.

The system itself

**Even distribution matters more than capacity.** A single unit in a living area that leaves the bedroom cold is a common and poor outcome. Zoning, or separate units, so every occupied space is conditioned.

**Quiet operation.** Noise affects some residents significantly, particularly people with sensory processing conditions. A loud unit gets turned off, and then the dwelling is unconditioned.

**No strong draught onto a fixed position.** A resident who spends the day in one chair or one bed cannot move out of an air stream. Outlet position is a design decision, not an installation one.

**Reverse cycle as the default,** which handles both directions with one system and suits an all-electric dwelling with [solar and storage](/blog/solar-batteries-and-all-electric-dwellings).

**Ventilation as well as conditioning,** because a well-sealed dwelling needs deliberate fresh air rather than incidental leakage.

The controls are the part most often wrong

A beautifully specified system with a controller at 1500mm on a wall behind a door is not accessible.

**Height and reach.** Within the reach range from a seated position, on a wall with clear approach.

**Operable with limited hand function.** Large buttons or a lever, not a small recessed touch panel.

**Readable.** Good contrast, a display that can be read from a distance, and tactile feedback.

**A physical control as well as an app.** App-only control excludes residents who cannot use a phone and support workers who do not have the app installed. The app is an addition, never the whole interface.

**Limits where appropriate.** In some settings the range is restricted so the system cannot be set to an unsafe temperature, with full control available to support staff.

The support worker view

A dwelling with overnight support has a second occupant with different needs, sometimes in a separate room, sometimes awake while the resident sleeps.

Zoning that allows different conditions in different spaces is worth more here than a single well-conditioned open plan.

Running cost is part of the design

Many residents are on a fixed income and pay their own utilities.

A system sized correctly for a well-built envelope, in an all-electric dwelling with solar, costs materially less to run than an oversized unit fighting a leaky building. Over a tenancy measured in years that is a real difference to the person living there, and it is the [whole-of-life](/blog/maintenance-and-whole-of-life-costs) argument in its most direct form.

Discuss a project.

MADEmodular / MADEbetter.