Saving energy at home

Change your habits

• Save money by using less hot water – take shorter showers and cold wash your clothes.

Reducing your 10-minute shower to 6 minutes could save a family of 4 more than $1,500 per year.*

Water efficient tapware saves the average household $175 per year: 65% from avoided water heating and 35% from reduced water bills.

*Based on flow rate of 12 litres per minute, water heated to 40°C.

Upgrade your fixtures

• Water-efficient tapware can help you save hot water.
• Replace your old electric hot water system with an energy efficient system.
• Solar hot water systems use the sun’s energy to heat water. Save an average of 3 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year.
• Hot water heat pumps use a refrigerant which boils at ambient air temperature to generate heat. Saves power and an average of 2.4 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year.

Change your habits

• Turn appliances off at the wall, or on the unit themselves. TVs and DVDs can use energy while in standby mode.
• Turn your computer off instead of hibernating or sleep mode.

Did you know that turning off standby power can cut the average household’s energy bill by up to 10%?

Upgrade your fixtures

• Choose the most energy efficient models when purchasing or replacing appliances and equipment.
• Recycle your e-waste –old TVs and computer monitors can be dropped off to Stotts Creek Resource Recovery Centre for free.

Change your habits

• Set your air conditioning thermostat 25°C or above in summer, or 21°C or below in winter.
• Use the air conditioner or heater sparingly, where possible.
• Close internal doors and only heat or cool your most used areas.

Every 1°C increase or decrease in temperature settings on your unit adds 10% to heating or cooling costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

Upgrade your fixtures

• Improve your home's insulation.
• Use external shading such as trees, eaves, awnings or shutters to reduce heat gain by as much as 80%.

Change your habits

• Switch off lights when you leave the room.
• Minimise the use of down lights or use lower wattage bulbs where possible to reduce energy consumption.

Upgrade your fixtures

• Replace incandescent and halogen lights with LED lighting.
• Use sensors to turn off lighting when a room is empty or lighting is sufficient.
• Consider skylights to increase natural light (well insulated).

LED lights may be more expensive to purchase, but last much longer, at a lower cost per year. LEDs use about 75% less energy than halogen lightbulbs and last 5 to 10 times longer.

Change your habits

• Avoid using a second fridge or freezer as these consume lots of additional energy. Consider only using during holiday or celebration periods if necessary.
• Keep the coils at the back of the fridge clean and well-ventilated to improve efficiency.
• Don’t over or underfill your fridge.
• Frozen water bottles in your freezer can prevent excess cold air escaping when you open the door.
• Find the right temperature settings to save energy and prevent food wastage. 

Upgrade your fixtures

• When it’s time to replace an appliance, use energy ratings to choose an efficient model.
• Old fridges can consume twice the energy of a new fridge.

More efficient appliances are usually more expensive to purchase, but often work out cheaper in the long run due to the energy saved.