Reducing the energy use of your home can save you money, provide you with a more comfortable living environment and reduce the amount of greenhouse gases you create. The average Australian household is responsible for about eight tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) per annum. Many of these emissions can be reduced through more efficient use of energy in our homes.

In addition to general in-store advice, we offer an Eco-Auditing service to help you identify the wasted energy and water in your home and advise you on possible improvements. Call the shop to make an appointment.

Improve the Energy Efficiency of your Home

There are a number of ways to reduce the energy consumption of your home. One is to make your home thermally more efficient. This will make it easier for your heating and cooling appliances to maintain your home at a comfortable temperature, using less energy in the process. A great source of information is the Your Home Website produced by the Federal Government. It is located at http://www.yourhome.gov.au/.

Drafts

Drafts are an important source of heat gain and loss for your home. Gaps around windows and doors are the major source of drafts. A large range of weather strip and door seals are available, as well as other solutions for other areas. 

Draft Stoppa One significant source of drafts is from exhaust fans in kitchen and bathrooms. These fans often open directly into the roof cavity of your home allowing large amounts of air movement. The draft stoppa caps them off, only allowing air movement when the fan is operating. 

Downlight Covers

Halogen downlights use far more energy than most other forms of lighting, but they also have many other issues. First and most important is the fire hazard. The rear of the lamp is usually well over 200 degrees, enough to set fire to insulation or other matter that has collected in your roof cavity, starting a dangerous and hard to detect roof fire. For this reason, new regulations state that insulation must be kept well away from light fittings, which introduces another issue, that of big holes in your insulation severly reducing its efficiency. Finally, as the high temperatures produced in a light fitting heat the air, it rises and draws air from the room below, effectively pumping your heated or cooled air out of the room, increasing the workload on your heater or air conditioner. Cap off your Halogen downlights with the Isolite Downlight Covers.

Even energy efficient CFL downlights produce some heat-chimney effect and all downlights and other ceiling penetrations reduce the fire rating of a ceiling, especially important in multi-storey and commercial buildings. A great solution for this is our fire-rated Downlight Cones.

Insulation

Heat loss in a home can be substantially reduced by the use of insulation. There are a large range of products available. In addition to fibreglass, there are other options including polyester, wool and silver reflective batts.

Windows

You can dramatically improve the energy efficiency of your windows by fitting thick, close fitting curtains which reach down to the floor. Adding pelmets at the top of the window also helps seal the window to reduce heat gain and loss. Double glazing windows further improves the thermal performance.

Improve the Energy Efficiency of your Appliances

There are a range of ways to improve the energy efficiency of appliances. One of the easiest things you can do is check the operating temperature of your heating and cooling devices.

Energy Saving Thermometer

Checking heating appliances are not running too hot and cooling appliances are not running too cool could result in substantial reductions in your energy use. The Energy Saving Thermometer tells you the appropriate operating temperatures for your space heating, hot water, fridge, freezer and air conditioning (if you have it).

Standby Loads

Standby current is the energy used when an appliance is turned off. Up to 12% of Australia’s household electricity usage is wasted by standby current. This wasted electricity costs Australian households approximately $500 million per annum. Five (5) million tonnes of greenhouse gas are generated every year by this wasted electricity.

Power-Mate

The Power-Mate measures the energy consumption of appliances in your home. It helps you track down the biggest energy users, or appliances with standby loads. The device can accurately measure and calculate power, volts, amps and energy being used by an electrical appliance. The Power-Mate can also indicate the greenhouse gas emission created by an appliance.

Appliances

Selecting energy efficient appliances when you buy them can save you a lot of money over the life of the appliance. Careful checking of the appliance star rating label can help guide your purchases. For a list of white goods and their energy consumption visit www.energyrating.gov.au. The site also includes tips on running your appliances energy efficiently.

Lighting

Household lighting energy use in Australia is increasing due to the construction of larger homes and the installation of more light fittings per home. Most homes could probably reduce the amount of energy they use for lighting by 50 percent or more. There are a large range of energy efficient lighting alternatives.

Other

There are a range of other measures you can use to reduce energy usage. They include:

• Fitting flow restrictors and low flow shower heads.
• Installing energy efficient or Solar Water Heating.
• Maintaining the efficiency of gas appliances by regular servicing to the makers standards.
• Consider buying Green Power or have Grid Connected Solar Panels fitted to your home.
• Practice energy saving behaviours such as turning off lights and appliances while not in use.