How to make your home more energy efficient

Improving the energy efficiency of your home can save electricity and/or gas consumption, and make your home more comfortable.
There are many areas where improvements can be made - start with the ones you feel capable of and make use of online resources to help.

Find out ...
  • Find out your average daily electricity usage in kWh/day (hint - look for a small bar graph on your bill)
  • Find out your daily gas usage in MJ/day (if you use gas)
  • Look at the difference in daily usage for a summer vs winter and across Autumn and Spring bill.  

Reading your bill a key to understanding how you are using energy If your electricity usage is already below 10 kWh/day, you are doing very well. Even so you still might be able to improve the comfort of the home though. 
If your electricity usage is between 10 kWh/day and 30 kW/day, depending on your household size, there are almost definitely  savings to be made.
If your electricity usage is over 30kWh/day, there will almost certainly be 10-20% savings possible and it is time to assess what is happening.

 PictureHousehold electricity meter
If your daily electricity usage is over 30kWhrs/day, there will almost certainly be 10-20% savings possible and it is time to audit what is happening..

Where to start?

The pie chart shows the energy use for a typical household without a  swimming pool. It shows that the biggest energy users are the heating and cooling devices:
  • Hot water system
  • Room heating
  • Room cooling (Air-conditioning)
  • Refrigeration

Some uses like cooking may be difficult to reduce. Others may be easy and cost nothing. So why not start with the easy ones.

Free energy savings

  • Set your washing machine to cold wash and rinse - most clothes do not need a hot wash
  • When replacing an appliance, choose one that uses less kWh per year see: http://www.energyrating.gov.au
  • Switch equipment off at the power point when not in use - especially computers
These changes can make a big difference to your bills.

Low cost saving

  • Plug-in timers are cheap and can be used to switch off devices like pond pumps or fish tank lights that currently run 24/7 and which you don't want to have to turn on and off manually. Note that the mechanical ones will need to be reset after a blackout
  • A  remote control switch wirelessly controls a device plugged into a hard-to-reach power point.
Picture

Inexpensive but a bit more effort

If you have a storage hot water tank, 
  • Fit a 3 star WELS rated shower head - changing a shower head is explained in this video
  • Fit a Valve Cozy to the pressure release valve on the tank
  • Insulate the any exposed copper hot water pipe - especially the first couple of meters from the tank

Draught-proof the home
Australian homes typically leak air around doors, windows and skirting boards, and through wall vents, exhaust fans and ceiling downlights. 
On a windy day, close the house doors and windows and feel for draughts in the above places with the back of your hand or by watching the smoke from a burning incense stick. All these draughts can be stopped as shown in the great how-to videos by greenityourself.
To find out how we can help reduce your energy bills call  John 0418 262706 or email info@ecologicaldesign.com.au 

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