Every home uses electricity which by default is overwhelmingly in Australia, is derived from burning fossil fuels. You can’t avoid using electricity but you can minimise your usage and ensure what you do use is produced in a sustainable way.
How much electricity should I be using?
ABS figures indicate that the national average for homes that use only electricity (ie no natural gas) ranges between 18 and 23 kWh/day per house.
At the up end a very well insulated, energy efficient home should be able to achieve average power consumption figures of around 10-15kWh/day across the year.
Your quarterly electricity bill will tell you your daily average power consumption measured in kWh as well as providing comparative usage from previous periods.
The Australian Energy Regulator has published a site Energy Made Easy that helps you compare retailer offerings and provides tools to help you understand your usage.
Gas vs Electricity
Natural gas is regularly portrayed as a greener alternative to electricity for uses such as hot water and household heating. Compared to electricity produced from fossil fuels such as coal it is a much better choice. The transmission losses for gas are significantly lower than electricity and the heat produced for a given unit of energy is greater.
But, natural gas is still a non-renewable fossil fuel in the same way that coal and oil are, it’s just a less bad fossil fuel. Where available, renewable forms of energy such as Green Power and roof mounted solar panels should be seen as preferred alternative.
Renewable Sources of Electricity
Electricity Usage Reduction
- Usage Analysis and Reduction
- Electricity Monitoring
- Energy Efficient Appliances
- Energy Efficient Heating & Cooling Alternatives
