Explore your Household
Making sustainable upgrades to your existing property, when the time is right, can save you money, create a more comfortable, efficient home and contribute to a sustainable Canberra. Explore your home to take action and find out how to get support.
BathroomBathroom
Why it’s important
After heating your rooms, hot water is the next biggest user of energy at home. Most Canberra households still have either an old or inefficient water heating system, like a standard electric element hot water system or gas hot water heater, which can contribute to high energy bills.
Taking action
- You can save money and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by installing the most appropriate and efficient water heater for your apartment such as a hot water heat-pump.
- Upgrading to an electric heat-pump can help reduce your emissions by around 10 tonnes over the heat pump’s useful life.
- Heat-pumps are one of the cheapest and efficient systems to run in the ACT. For example, to heat a standard 300L hot water tank to 60 degrees takes:
- a hot water heat pump about 4.7 kilowatt hours (kWh) and costs about $478 per year to run.
- a standard electric hot water system about 14 (kWh) of electricity, and costs about $1,435 per year.
- a gas hot water system about 59.3 megajoules (MJ) to heat (equivalent to 16.5 kWh) and will cost about $850 per year.
Support available
- Apply for a zero-interest loan through the Sustainable Household Scheme for $2,000 to $15,000 to buy energy-efficient products, including a hot water heat pump.
- If you are a If you are a Pensioner Concession Card or Veterans Gold Card holder, you may be eligible for up to $5,000 in rebates for the installation of energy efficient products through the Home Energy Support: Rebates for Homeowners Program.
- Other rebates and support available through our programs.
- Attend a Sustainable Home Advice workshop on all-electric homes.
- Speak to our Sustainable Home Advice team on 1300 141 777.
- Owner corporations can no longer refuse sustainability upgrade requests, like efficient hot water, for your property – It’s part of the Managing Buildings Better reforms.
Kitchen
Why it’s important
Gas stove tops and ovens are one of the least efficient of all household appliances. Having an efficient electric stove top can help you reduce energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions.
Taking action
- You can replace your existing gas stove top or oven with an induction stove top or ceramic stove top. They are cheaper to run and work as well or even better than gas.
- An induction stove top is extremely energy efficient:
- over 90% of energy is transferred as heat to the cookware, compared to about 50% for gas*.
- uses almost three times less energy than gas to create the same amount of heat needed to cook an average meal. Gas cooking uses 1.53kWh , whereas an induction uses 0.59kWh.
- The open flame of a gas stove top can also present a potential safety concern for burns. Combusting gas inside your home can also cause air quality issues indoors if not properly ventilated. The Climate Council has found the effect of gas cooking in the home is comparable to the effect of smoking indoors on childhood asthma.
Support available
- Apply for a loan through the Sustainable Household Scheme for $2,000 to $15,000 to buy energy-efficient products, including replacing an existing gas stovetop with an electric alternative.
- If you are a Pensioner Concession Card or Veterans Gold Card holder, you may be eligible for up to $5,000 in rebates for the installation of energy efficient products through the Home Energy Support: Rebates for Homeowners Program.
- Other rebates and support available through our programs.
- Attend a Sustainable Home Advice workshop on all-electric homes.
- Speak to our Sustainable Home Advice team on 1300 141 777.
* based on (30 minutes of cooking using two burners)
Dining/living/bedroom
Why it’s important
Heating makes up about 60% of an average Canberra household’s energy use. The most efficient heating and cooling systems available on the market today are reverse cycle air conditioners. These are sometimes called a split system.
Taking action
- A reverse cycle heating system can heat your house quickly and will cost less to run than gas heating or other electric heating systems.
- To heat an average living area of 50m2 for a year:
- an average electric element heater uses 5,205 kilowatt hours (kWh) and costs about $1,462.
- a gas wall heater uses about 22,045 megajoules (MJ) (equivalent to 6,124 kWh) and costs about $866.
- an average reverse-cycle system would use 1,407 kWh and costs $395. A more efficient reverse cycle system uses 868 kWh and cost $244 per year.
- Upgrading your gas heating system to an efficient electric reverse cycle air conditioning system can reduce your emissions by around 14 tonnes over the system’s useful life. And you’ll potentially save about $500 per year on heating bills.
Support available
- Apply for a zero-interest loan through the Sustainable Household Scheme for $2,000 to $15,000 to buy energy-efficient products, including replacing existing an existing gas stovetop with an electric alternative.
- If you are a pensioner concession card holder, including veterans, you may be eligible for up to $5,000 in rebates for the installation of energy efficient products through the Home Energy Support: Rebates for Homeowners Program.
- Other rebates and support available through our programs.
- Attend a Sustainable Home Advice workshop on all-electric homes.
- Speak to our Sustainable Home Advice team on 1300 141 777.
