Saving electricity

[Julie-Ann]

Did you hear that Western Australians apparently are the highest consumers of power in Australia:eek:. That really surprised me but got me thinking- why?
And how can all of us cut down on our electricity bills?

My suggestion for my family would be to open more windows and don't just turn on the a/c when it is only a mild day.

What do you do, or should you do to cut down on power?

http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/ab86/jamhind/electricity22.jpg

[Elements]

Having had to drive to 5 different lighting shops yesterday I have to add to this thread......
We are having a 2 storey home and I am not a huge fan of running only downlights in my home for cost and halogen but as our downstairs will be our entertaning area we wanted to make sure it looked a ceratain way......in the pantry,laundry and Wic, we decided to put R80's, today version of a batten light only they are only available in 1 lighting shop in all of Perth.:rolleyes:

So as much as I wanted to be energy efficient in my home the only other option to this is LED lights which never run out and are very consumer friendly....And they unfortunatley are way out of our price range....
I know downlights are great but they are also an expensive way to run lighting in your home.
Maybe 1 day solar panels will be compulsory on new builds and that would definately help everyone.
I would think most states have this but here in Perth you can get a free energy efficient consult that helps you detect areas in your home that you can improve for energy efficiency....things like a specific power switch carrying too many items always "on" at the switch will draw more power than if it were on its own switch......anyway If I keep talking you will all start to fall asleep and we don't want that......:D
But for now I agree we should all consider this a little more......:)

[Julie-Ann]

Wow what a great post. I had forgotten about those energy efficient consults. I also did not know that you save energy by having your appliance in their own point instead of using a power board. I went around the house today changing this wherever I could.
I am currently researching the changes that they are looking at to building regulations with energy use. There are some big changes due. The government is very worried about halogens and the amount of power they use. But I love the light my halogens give out just a pity about the electricity bill:(.
You know if you lived on the right side of the river:D you would have got an R80 easily. I just went to Beacon in Myaree and bought one on Wednesday. Just joking.
Oh and I didn't turn on the a/c until 2.30pm:D

[Anniez]

We got insulation put in the roof and that has made a big difference to how hot the house gets. We also close all the blinds over on hot days.
I would like to reduce our electricity bill more though.:)

[rachel]

I'm seriously thinking about putting solar panels on our roof. It is embarrassing that countries like Germany (with little sun) have way more solar panels installed than we do.

Our house is designed well in terms of minimising energy use. We have good insulation, high ceilings and windows in the right places to catch sun at the right times. Our bedrooms are downstairs which makes them nice and cool in summer.

I've been known to work in my office with a blanket and woolly socks in winter so I don't need to have the heater on. In summer I often have the doors open to catch the breeze.

I didn't know about the powerpoints - we have adapters on everything, there weren't many power points installed in the house (we bought it, didn't build) and we're a household of many gadgets! I'll have to see if I can do anything about it.