Article: Energy bills: How 3.5 million Aussies can save $1,600 per year
This is an article by Tamika Seeto at Yahoo Finance, read the full article HERE.
Around 3.5 million Aussies are planning on making renovations or improvements to their homes in the next six months, and there’s one thing they could do to save thousands in the long term.
More Aussies looking to build sustainably
Sydney-based architect Alexander Symes said he’d noticed an increase in people looking to make their homes more sustainable and energy-efficient in the past four to five years.
But homeowners can often face barriers to making their homes sustainable, with new GBCA and Allianz research finding high costs, complexity and the weight of the task were common deterrents.
Symes said it could be easy to think of sustainable renovations as complex and expensive, but this didn’t have to be the case.
“Shifting to green power is one of the most cost-effective game-changers you can make in terms of environmental efficiency. But there are also other very important things, such as sealing up the house, installing ceiling fans so you don’t have to use air-conditioners as often and installing curtains to reduce heat losses in winter,” Symes told Yahoo Finance.
“In terms of water, there are low-flow taps and then, when you can afford it, put in a rainwater tank and feed that to your landscape.”
To give you an idea of costs, a 6kW solar system can cost between $4,810 and $9,920 to install depending on where you live. The payback period can range from as little as two-and-a-half years to six-and-a-half years, according to comparison site Solar Choice.
Create a game plan
For Aussies on a budget, Symes recommended creating a priority list of what you wanted to do and then actioning it over time as funds became available.
Improvements can range from light retrofits, including sealing up holes in your home and installing heavy curtains, through to deep retrofits, including adding insulation to your home, solar panels and rainwater tanks.
For Aussies feeling overwhelmed, Symes recommended they visit GBCA and Allianz’s Green Specs website and put in their own parameters and what they were looking for.