Want to save Money, save the Planet and still enjoy your life! Sounds impossible but living green feels wonderful and it’s so easy ……….Here’s how to start.
Reducing energy usage at home, is the easiest way to lower your living costs and the best thing you can do to join the crusade against climate change.
Australia is one of the worlds highest per capita greenhouse gas emitters and with about 20% of this effect coming from homes, we can really make a difference.
With the Qld Government expecting a 1°C temperature increase by 2030 and all the resulting problems with global warming, its up to each of us to do our bit.
What’s best to do first:
Guess what uses the most home energy? – no not the fridge, air-conditioner, heater or the stove but the heating of water by our hot water systems, washing machines and dishwashers and in the kitchen.
Our average Queensland household uses about 23 kilowatt hours of electricity per day – that’s adds up to 8 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year! Heating water can account for up to 40% of our total energy usage and on current electricity costs if you are on the highest tariffs this could mean up to $600 per year which, no doubt, you could use for other things.
The simple solution to most of the water heating dilemma is to replace our old energy sucking dinosaur electric system with solar hot water. Solar can provide nearly all of your hot water needs free of charge from the sun and at the moment with government subsidies, they are a deal and pay themselves off quickly.
The Federal Government is offering $1600 off the solar cost if you are replacing an old electric system in your existing home and combined with the discount from the Renewable Energy Certificates that are yours to sell back to your supplier at purchase, you could be have installed a brand new solar system for as low as $1400.
What is solar hot water? – These systems use a solar collector, which is a box with a mattrix of pipes and usually a black backing and glass cover that heats up water in the pipes and transfers the hot water to a storage tank. The storage tank is either on the roof next to the collector or Close Coupled system or on the ground or in the roof system Split system. The Close Coupled systems are the more efficient than Split systems as the on the ground storage tanks have an electric pump which use energy! The Close Coupled systems are a bit obvious and bulky on your roof but really they are an icon of sustainable living.
The trick is with solar to buy the most efficient system you can afford. The cheaper ones are not that efficient and in cloudy weather, particularly in winter, they use a lot of booster energy, mostly with, and you guessed it, an electric element like our old systems.
The more expensive better quality solar systems are more efficient and if well located virtually can provide nearly all your hot water needs, bar those cloudiest coldest days, for any energy input boosting at all! The electric boosting element is very inefficient and uses a lot of energy as it is heating water even when you are away on holidays!
Better boosting comes with the use of an instantaneous gas heater which is located between your solar system and your taps and augments the solar hot water by topping up the heat if the water is not warm enough. This “on demand” gas heater is more expensive than the electric element but is a far better way to go as it is only activated when hot water boosting is actually needed. You can turn it on and off yourself so you have direct control and in some models turn the temperature up and down.
Try to buy an Australian made system, there will be less environmental impacts and you will stimulate our local economy and preserve jobs.
Our Behaviour!
Its not homes that use energy, it’s people, the householders!
Saving money and environmental impacts is about our behaviour, so if you can’t upgrade to a solar hot water system, simply look to try and use less hot water.
Here are some simple tips:
• Install a water efficient shower head
• Get a shower timer and enjoy shorter showers
• If you have to use the bath with a friend or family!
• Use your washing machine on the cold cycle or connect only the cold water
• Only use your or dishwasher when it’s a full loaded – it heats its own water
• Conserve your washing up water
And the last one is a cracker…………… The Climate Change Cuppa
Believe it or not heating your jug for a cuppa uses lots of energy.
It costs money for every cup of water you boil. Ever notice how we decadently tend to overfill the kettle and heat up 6 or 7 cups instead of just one. At 10 times a day over a year, your family’s awareness could save your $100 a year and the world nearly half a tonne of greenhouse gas emissions. It’s about using what we need and thinking and acting now to leave a better world for our children.
So living “green”, you can enjoy your life just as much – cut back your energy usage as much as is comfortable, install solar and put the savings in the bank or better still……….. go spend it! (Kevin and Wayne will love you…)
Other info:
• Install the first 2 metres of hot water pipe from your hot water system to save heat loss
• Install a hot water recirculating valve that recycles your hot water
• Locate your hot water system right next to your bathroom/s
