Soaring cost of electricity swallowing your savings? Here’s how to reduce it

ENERGY costs in Australia are soaring to new highs, but money guru David Koch has mastered the art of reducing power bills. Read his expert advice.

ENERGY costs in Australia are absolutely outrageous. I get so angry about this.

How can Australia be the biggest energy exporter in the world (coal, gas, uranium), yet its citizens are slugged more than those we ship it to?

If all our capital cities were countries, they would make up five of the top 10 highest cost places in the world.

It’s crazy, but also means we all have to focus on energy saving strategies to keep the bills down.

HEATING AND INSULATION

Insulation has got to be the number one single area for savings.

The ceilings are the key area for heat loss, but also the walls and the floors depending on what the house is made out of.

Sealing out draughts is also important. The gaps under doors, around windows, between floorboards and through a chimney can be a big source of heat loss.

Also, any gaps between the walls and floors or walls and ceilings should be attended to.

In older houses, fixed vents in the walls are usually not essential and can be closed off.

Room temperatures should be around 18 to 21 degrees Celsius.

For every one degree of temperature more than 21 inside your home, heating costs increase by 10 per cent.

Wearing warm clothing rather than wandering around the house in a T-shirt in winter will mean comfortably coping with a couple of degrees less in room temperature.

Leaving the heater on all day, even on a low setting is the best way to see your winter bill blow out.

Let it run all winter and be prepared to allow another $250 for the quarterly bill.

WINDOWS

Much of a home’s heat is lost through bare glass. Heavy, close fitting curtains with pelmets are needed to cut down heat loss.

Insulation, weather stripping and the appropriate curtains in the living room alone can cut the average energy bill substantially.

Keeping the living room closed off from unheated rooms, putting the heater on a lower thermostat setting and using an energy efficient gas heater or a ceiling fan to distribute heat will make a big difference.

HOT WATER

The hot water service is the second biggest energy sapper at home.

If you haven’t already got one, installing an off-peak hot water system is an obvious starting point to cut costs.

Using low-flow shower heads, washing in cold water and using a lower temperature setting on the dishwasher can save big money.

Washing clothes in cold water, taking three-minute showers instead of baths and using a low-flow showerhead will make a big difference.

Allowing the hot water to drip continuously at a drop every two seconds will add $19 per dripping tap to your winter bill.

While the clothes line or drying racks cost nothing to run, drying clothes with an electric dryer will chew up around $50 of power a quarter by itself.

Young people are feeling the pinch with electricity bills making up the bulk of their household expenditure. Plumpton resident Zerin Hassan at home contemplates a recent power bill. Picture: Ian Currie

REFRIGERATOR

The refrigerator is your third largest user of energy but many people don’t operate their fridge at the right temperature.

Fridges need run only at four to five degrees Celsius. Any lower is a waste of power.

Also, keep the coils behind the fridge clean and at least 10cm clear of the wall.

This allows air to circulate around them and aid the cooling process.

Careless use, placement and maintenance of the refrigerator adds to the costs.

And the difference between a fridge with a five-star energy rating and one with just a one-star rating can be around $55 a quarter.

Any household thermometer will let you test the internal fridge temperature.

LIGHTING

Even though lighting accounts for 2 per cent of the average home’s energy use, there is plenty you can do. Using compact fluorescent globes in frequent use areas can save big dollars.

You will save around $80 over the lifetime of a fluorescent globe compared to the old incandescent globes.

David Koch is here to help you save dollars on your energy bill. Picture: Brett Costello

Merely replacing 60 watt globes with 40 watters can save $10 or $12 a room.

Down lights and spotlights are the current fashion in home decor with up to four per room. But these lights throughout the average house will use around $80 more in electricity.

BUILDING

If you are building a home, then you have the chance to do it right from the start. A little forward planning for energy efficiency will deliver savings from the day you move in.

Choice of building materials, insulation, the size and direction of windows, proximity to nearby buildings and use of deciduous trees can all be used to make for an energy efficiency home.