As the cost of living rises, we're going to be spending more time at home and going out less often, which means higher power bills.
Over the last couple of years, we’ve made our homes our office, entertainment space and restaurant. As interest rate rises have started to bite, especially those of us with variable-rate mortgages, we’ve retreated to our homes. No longer are we heading out to restaurants for family and friend catch-ups; instead, we’re opening our home-delivered meal kits and doing more creative cooking at home. Our bosses are no longer responsible for the power we consume running our laptops and internet. Movie nights are often at home using big-screen TVs or projectors. And we want to feel comfortable so we crank up the air conditioning or the heat depending on the season.
In short, we’re using more power at home.
Most of our comfort depends on power so what can we do to keep energy use as low as possible while staying comfortable? There are some obvious steps to take, especially in winter.
DIY energy-saving tips
Most of these tips are obvious but you might have forgotten some of them.
- Wear more clothes. If you’re cold because you’re walking around in a t-shirt and shorts, put on a fleece or a jumper and wear long pants. You won’t need to crank up the heat.
- Draught-proof windows and doors and use door snakes for large gaps. Even modern homes have gaps around doors and windows and it’s easy to use peel-and-stick door and window seal tape. So head to Bunnings or your local hardware store and get sticking. Draughts can make you feel colder and all the heat in the world won’t help.
- Control your climate. In winter, set your heating to between 18°C and 20°C. In summer, set your cooling to between 25°C and 27°C. For every degree you increase heating and cooling you increase energy use between 5% and 10%.
- Install curtains on windows to stop heat leakage. This is mainly important if you have large expanses of single-pane glass. Heavy curtains also help with keeping your home cool. If you don’t like the idea of curtains, you can buy blinds with a thermal backing to help with heat loss or coping with radiant heat.
- Double-glaze your windows. With double or even triple glazing, your home will stay toasty in winter and cool in summer.
- Turn off everything at the wall so you aren't paying for stand-by power. If you can't do this with your TV, then at least turn off your kettle and coffee machine.
- Turn off everything at the wall so you aren't paying for stand-by power. If you can't do this with your TV, then at least turn off your kettle and coffee machine.
- Charge your phone in Aeroplane mode. Did you know it will charge 50% faster? And while we’re on phones, make sure you have Bluetooth off as it runs your battery down faster.
- Cook more casseroles and cook more at once. You'll be heating your kitchen and saving on energy use.
- Wash clothing and linens in cold water. This will save you about 10 times the energy of using hot water and today’s cold-water detergents are specially formulated to clean your clothing and linens even better than hot water washes.
- Take shorter showers. And if you’re really keen, take a full or part cold shower. Cold showers are said to release dopamine and improve the immune system.
Go solar
You can manage all of the above on your own. However, there are other energy-saving options that require some investment (but for a much bigger pay-off).
Solar hot water
While it would be lovely to install a full solar photovoltaic system with a back-up battery for night power, these systems are expensive. If you own a stand-alone property, though, you could invest in a solar hot water system. Depending on your home and number of residents, hot water alone could account for nearly 30% of your total energy bill. In addition, heating water is currently the most efficient way to take advantage of solar.
Solar photovoltaic system (PV)
A complete solar system will set you back anywhere from $5,000 to $15,000 depending on the type of solar cells you have plus a battery and inverter. You can choose to run your PV system during the day only and get power from the grid at night, saving you money upfront, or you can go all out with a system that completely replaces your grid power with solar. While solar PV systems mean less expense quarterly, you have to consider the initial cost and the payback period that’s anywhere from 10 to 15 years if you choose to install a full system with battery and inverter. Without the battery, the pay-back time is about three to five years. However, if you’re downsizing and have some ready cash from the sale of a larger family home, it’s worth thinking long term about energy costs. And remember that the pay-back period will be shorter now with higher energy costs. And if you’re thinking about buying an electric vehicle, you need to work out the size of your system so it can cope with recharging your vehicle or vehicles.
The ultimate bonus of a solar PV system is being buffered from grid power outages. This is especially valuable if you work from home.
Learn more about how solar works.
Note we don’t endorse this company but the information they provide is comprehensive.
What about government energy subsidies and incentives?
There are government subsidies available for energy costs and solar.
Pensioners and anyone on income support receive the government Energy Supplement. See more information on receiving the energy supplement.
State governments offer various incentives for solar. However, you’ll need to check the latest information for your state as subsidies change. All states and territories currently offer incentives under the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme.
Want to learn more about making the most of your next 30 years?
Retirement living can be the best time of your life.
We’re committed to making life better for the over 55s. Check out downsizing.com.au for more insights and great advice on living life to the fullest. We have a great range of properties for the over 55s to help you do that with like-minded people in land lease communities and retirement villages.
