Four ways you can reduce your electricity bill now.

WITH yet another electricity price rise under our belts since July this year, the average Aussie household is now handing over $600 more per year on electricity alone, while small businesses have been hit even harder.

We for one, think there are far better ways to spend six hundred dollars (and more), so we’ve put together a few tips that will help you to drastically reduce your electricity bill now, and protect you (and your back pocket) against future price hikes.

1. Check your hot water system

Considered the most power-hungry part of the home, an inefficient hot water system could be burning a hole in your pocket. Start out by assessing if your hot water system is right for you. If the system is too small for your household, heating it multiple times a day to keep up with the demand gets costly. Secondly, dust the cobwebs off the back side of your electricity bill and check your hot water is on Tariff 33. Tariff 33 is a controlled load tariff, providing electricity for up to 18 hours a day at a discounted rate. If you’re not sure, one of our energy consultants can provide you with a free energy efficient consultation.

2. Shoot for the star rating

Its estimated forty percent of our energy usage goes to heating and cooling our homes, short of renovating your home to improve your passive airflow, fitting an energy efficient air conditioning unit to cool a dedicated space or a ducted system to manage the temperature of your whole home are both good options, and significantly cheaper than running multiple space heaters or coolers all day long.

3. Stay calm and get solar

It goes without saying the most effective way to reduce your electricity bill significantly is to use your roof and draw power free from the sun. There has never been a better time to invest in solar. With generous government rebates still available, and a significant drop in the price of a good quality system, solar just makes good sense. Let’s break it down…a 5kW system will set you back about $5k, and the average home spends approx. $500 per quarter on electricity, that’s $2,000 per year that effectively off sets the cost of your PV system, dependant the way you consume electricity, so that’s potentially a payback period of under three years, and some serious savings now, and well in to the future.

4. Consider Battery storage

If you’re like most of us, and spend most of your day at work, your home is running at minimum power consumption, which just also happens to be the optimum time to be harvesting solar energy to power your home.

By adding a battery, you can store energy generated through the day to power your home into the evening when electricity is most expensive and your home is also at peak consumption.

We are genuinely passionate about the benefits of a good quality energy solutions designed to deliver you real savings. If you’re ready to take control of your energy future, and you’re looking for honest, trustworthy advice from your local energy contractor, call SAE on 1300 18 20 50. To find out more visit www.saegroup.com.au