How to power your home, without paying the price
Whether you are trying to save your hard earned dollars, or reduce your carbon footprint, there is a lot to gain by fine tuning the way we use electricity and if done correctly, not much to lose. The consumer demand for ‘green’ alternatives in powering and running our homes has led to some great advancements in technology, and it is something that gets us very excited here at Bright electrics.
When building a new home from scratch, a clean slate makes incorporating many of these green options easy and viable from the get go. An older home which already has appliances and fittings that work, albeit at a high cost to your bank account and to the environment, can be slightly less cost effective in the short term but will see your power bills shrink over the years.
Photovoltaic solar panels are currently the number one way to reduce your power bill, easily wiping 60-80% off the average electricity bill. While the up front cost of a solar system can be high, the Australian government is currently offering rebates of up to $2,225, as well as 4 year interest free loans to pay for certain systems, not only that but any excess energy not consumed by your household during the day will generate a credit on your electricity bill, of 12c/kw (VIC) through feed-in tariffs. PV solar panels are a prime example of a technology that is seeing rapid advancements in efficiency, longer life cycles and cost reduction and should seriously be considered on all types of homes.
Another Australian home capturing the benefits of solar energy
It is commonly known that most electricity retailers offer a cheaper night rate known as off-peak supply, but it is not something that many consumers take advantage of. With the control we have over products and appliances these days, setting up time schedules is something that can set up quickly and easily on some of your thirstier equipment. Your dishwasher for example, is an appliance that rarely needs to be used in peak periods. So a good way to save money to have your dishwasher fully loaded and set it to start its cycle after 11:00pm. Other big consumers are your clothes dryers, fridges and surprisingly TV’s. A large screen (110cm to 130cm) 3 star rated TV on for 10 hours generates more greenhouse gas than an average sized (400L to 500L) 4 star family fridge. Managing all of these appliances as best you can, by using off time schedules, and being conservative in the use of them will contribute to more savings for you. It is also worth noting that with home automation becoming more accessible in its basic form, there are many options such as the clipsal iconic bluetooth switch and power points which allows the user to program electrical accesories through their phone.
In the last 15 years LED lighting has gone from an expensive alternative to halogen or fluorescent lighting, to becoming the most popular choice in lighting across Australian homes over the last 8 years. There are many benefits to having your house converted to LED, a major one being that consumers can expect up to 75% less energy consumption from their household lights. Look out for the next post outlining the many other benefits of LED lighting.
Lastly, there are many choices in which company you choose to buy your electricity through. Simply jumping on google and getting a few bill comparisons is yet another easy way to pay less each month on your electricity bills.