Tips From Electrodry: How To Tackle The Energy Price Hike This Year

From July 1 this year electricity prices went up by nearly 20% in some states. For the average house-hold this can be up to $400 per year. That’s a lot of money and in our family of four, it’s time to make some smart decisions around power usage.

We decided to find the 5 best steps we could take in our home to reduce the power bill. Here’s what we came up with:

Find out what are those star ratings about?

Star ratings give a relative efficiency indicator for each type of appliance. Does it matter? Yes. Before the last round of power price increases a clothes dryer with a 2 star energy rating uses twice the power of clothes dryer with a 6 star rating. For a 7 kg dryer being used once a week, difference in power usage over the 10 year life of the machine is approx. $450!

By the same token, the annual saving on power usage for a 5 star fridge vs a 3 star fridge is $30 to $70 depending on the model.

For more information on star ratings visit http://www.energyrating.gov.au/products

Our fridge is a 10 year old, 400 litre fridge with a 2 star rating. It’s not quite big enough for our family of 4 so it’s time to bite the bullet and go shopping.

Make sure your appliances run efficiently

The air-conditioner, fridge and clothes dryer are usually the most power-hungry appliance in the home so here’s out tips:

• In summer set the air-conditioner to 24 or 25 degrees and in winter to 20 degrees. These are comfortable temperatures that won’t cause your air-conditioner to work too hard.
• Clean the filters on your air-conditioner regularly (monthly). Improved air-flow will greatly improve performance.
• Regular professional air-conditioner cleaning increases air-flow and lets the evaporative unit on the air-conditioner run more efficiently. Studies have shown professional cleaning can reduce power consumption by up to 22%. The air-conditioner is the most power-hungry appliance in your home, if your air-conditioner struggles for performance, this could be a great way to save money.
• Check the seals on your fridge and freezer. If the doors come open easily, then it might be best to replace the seals.
• Clean the air-filter in the clothes dryer every time you use it.

Change to LED lights

We’re changing the Hallogen globes to LED for the downlights in the living room and kitchen. Lighting now consumes 8-15% of the average Australian electricity bill, meaning we pay about $200 per year to light out home.

LED lights have become a lot cheaper of late. A 10W light LED light (equivalent to standard 75W bulb) costs about $8, uses 75% less power than a halogen globe and is rated to last for 5 years (which means changing light globes less often). If now’s the time to change to LED, just make sure you check the type of plugs as there’s 4 different types of fittings:

We’re lucky that we can do a straight changeover of globes, but if you need to have downlights installed, my friend Chad the Sparky says that you should expect to pay $60-$75 per light plus hardware for a reputable electrician.

It sounds like a lot but I suggest installing a dimmer with the downlights and watch your power prices plummet! You’ll also appreciate the softer light.

Turn appliances off at the wall

Did you know you turning off appliances off at the wall instead of leaving them on standby will save the average home $100 to $150 per annum. The amount you’ll save depends on how efficient your appliances are now. In June 2016 Choice put together this analysis on the costs of leaving appliance on standby:

For more handy tips from Electrodry visit their website.