Steps you can take to make your home more comfortable, more energy-efficient, and economical to run.

1. Actsmart Sustainable Home Advice
5 steps to an energy efficient home
Presenter: Ren Webb

2. My house
• Permaculture food production garden
• Low cost/DIY energy efficiency retrofit - 2 stars to 6.9 stars
• All-electric home – very low usage: $200 per quarter
• Solar system generating 5 times more energy than we use

3. Suite of programs to help support
households:
• Actsmart Sustainable Home Advice
• Home energy assessments
• Actsmart Eco Challenge webtool
• Also promote Heating and hot water upgrade
rebates program

4. Feel free to ask questions
The only silly question
is the one that isn’t asked

5. Why care?
An energy efficient house can:
• save a considerable amount of money and emissions
over the life of your home
• enjoy better thermal comfort & health outcomes
• enjoy greater energy security
• improve the re-sale value of your home
• Make you love where you live

6. Annual energy usage - average Canberra home
Heating 60%
Hot water
16%
Electric
appliances
15%
Lights 4%
Cooking 3%
Cooling 2%
Adapted from Residential energy use 2008, and
Residential baseline study 2015

7. 1. Are you on the best energy plan?
• Average middle-income Canberra home spends $3400 a
year on energy (electricity and gas 2017/18)
• 25% discount on usage charges = $600+ per year saving –
well worth 20 mins on-hold!
• Review every 6-12 months – they do not reward loyalty!
www.energymadeeasy.gov.au
Energy costs from: Australian Energy Regulator www.aer.gov.au

8. 2. Er...do you know your EER (Energy Efficiency Rating)?
Improve the thermal performance of your home:
• Check your contract of
sale for the EER report.
• Implement
recommendations
• 2 stars to 6+ stars for
under $4000 possible
with DIY

9. Have you draught proofed your home?
• Best ‘bang-for-buck’
improvement
• Affordable, easy and
makes a big difference
• Website, DIY videos,
workshops

10. Does your insulation need upgrading?
• Ceiling R5 (25cm thick), walls
R2.8, underfloor R2
• Reduces heating and cooling
costs and improves well-being

11. Are your windows well-dressed?
• Heavy drapes and pelmets and or thermal blinds
• Shade windows, walls, and hard surfaces around
your home - summer

12. Are you running a tight-ship?
• Opening and closing curtains
• Closing internal doors, curtains in
openings without doors
• Temperature settings…
• Solar passive = active operators

13. 3. Could you save with efficient electric appliances?
Heating
• Biggest cost = biggest
opportunity
• Split system ACs – up
to 600% efficiency!

14. 50m2 living area, heating load 18738 MJ/per year. Calculated at 21.7c per kWh for electricity and 3.2c per MJ for gas.
$1,133
$802
$709
$342
$241
$54
$35
$0
$200
$400
$600
$800
$1,000
$1,200
Electric element
heaters
Old gas flued wall
heater
5 star gas flued
wall heater
2.5 star reverse
cycle split system
5.5 star reverse
cycle split system
Approximate annual cost to heat a 50m2 living area in
Canberra
Additional Cooling

15. Hot water
• Behaviour change
• Low-flow showerhead
• Upgrade to a heat-pump
• Got solar PV, use hot water to store energy

16. • From 2020, gas will make-up
20% of the ACTs emissions
• $300ish per year supply
charge and prices rising
• New-build all electric home - $5000 extra up-front for
$1600 per year saving (with 5kW solar PV) compared to
house with gas
4. Can you get off gas?

17. • If you have a sunny
roof install some!
• Systems are cheap but
feed-in-tariffs are low
• Secret - self-consumption
5. Can you install Solar panels?
System size
(panels)
2 kW
(8)
3 kW
(12)
4 kW
(16)
5 kW
(20)
7 kW
(28)
10 kW
(40)
Cost (total
out-of-
pocket)
$3000 -
$4,500
$3,500 -
$5000
$4000 -
$6000
$5000 -
$8000
$6,500 -
$10,000
$10,000 -
$14000
Typical costs – guide only

18. Graph from
solarchoice.net.au

19. • With 65% self-consumption (home during the day):
typical payback 3-5 years (20-25% returns)
• With 20% self-consumption (shout-out to all the 9-5ers):
typical payback 6-8 years (12-15% return)
• Load-shift usage, convert to all-electric home to
maximise benefit
Solar panels
Figures from: www.solarquotes.com.au/solar101.html

20. Evidence suggests most people do not follow through!
• Information is not necessarily the key barrier
• Write down 3 changes that you would like to make
and the main benefit you can see for each
• When would like to have made it by?
• Would it be ok if I gave you call you after the last
date to see how you went and whether you need
any support?

21. Thank you
Come to an evening workshop to
learn more…
Actsmart Sustainable Home Advice
Phone: 1300 141 777
Email: actsmartadvice@act.gov.au
Resources
www.actsmart.gov.au
Your home technical manual 5th edition 2013
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