Simple decisions, like switching to more energy-efficient appliances, sealing draughts and heating water at the right time add up to real savings on power bills over time.
Choosing electric alternatives to gas appliances, such as induction cooktops or heat pump hot water systems, can further cut costs and emissions, especially when paired with solar power and home batteries.
Even everyday habits, like adjusting heating and cooling by just a degree or two, make a noticeable difference without sacrificing comfort.
Understanding how we use energy and what it costs is a great place to start.
On this page, you’ll find information about how to use energy wisely:
On average, a household in Bouddi uses around 10,000 kWh each year, excluding energy used for transport. Water heating, space heating and cooling are the largest share of consumption, as shown in charts.
(Note that inefficient wood burners in the area inflate space heating energy use compared to other end-uses – this is corrected in the chart for GHG emissions).
The average Bouddi household uses 8,000 kWh electricity each year, or around 21 kWh/day. Most of this comes from the grid, but many houses now use electricity from their own rooftop solar panels.
If you want to know more about how we use energy in Bouddi, go here.
Our electricity networks are designed to operate reliably when we have maximum demand, which is usually on the hottest summer days. As more homes and cars switch to electricity, demand for power will increase. This could mean costly upgrades to the electricity network unless we spread our electricity use more evenly throughout the day.
Figure 1 shows the typical electricity profile of one house over 24 hours on the hottest day of the year.
Consumption peaks between 5.30pm-9.30pm as we cool our homes, cook, use hot water and watch TV.
When everyone uses power at once, the network is stretched and our most expensive fossil fuel generators are called on, pushing up costs for all of us.
However, we now have an abundance of cheap solar power during the middle of the day, both on individual rooftops and via the grid. This electricity is typically the least expensive.
As shown in Figure 2, our challenge is to reduce peak demand by:
This is called ‘load-shaping’. See below for information on how to do this.
The key benefits of load-shaping are:
The table below shows what you can do and the impacts on peak demand.
| AREA | ACTION | IMPACT ON PEAK DEMAND | LINKS TO MORE INFO |
| Home battery | Store daytime home rooftop solar or grid electricity for use in evenings |
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Rooftop solar | Home batteries |
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| Hot water | Use a timer to heat water only during the middle of the day |
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Hot water |
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| Electric vehicle charging | Charge during the middle of the day (best) or overnight if at work during the day |
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Electric vehicles |
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| Cooking | Use slow-cooker or oven to pre-cook evening meals during the daytime |
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Induction cooking |
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| Clothes washing / drying | Use appliance timers to run during the middle of the day |
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Lighting & appliances |
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| Dishwashing | Use appliance timers to run during the middle of the day |
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Lighting & appliances |
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| Heating / Cooling | Run cooling (or heating) appliances during the day to pre-cool (or heat) home. Best in well-insulated houses. |
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Heating & cooling |
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Take a closer look at what you can do in your home by visiting the following pages:
