In a recent speech before the Energy Institute of Australia, Australia's Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, noted that the average Australian household has experienced a 48 per cent rise in electricity bills in the last four years.
In the face of such dramatic price rises, some home occupiers may be looking for strategies to mitigate their electricity costs. To this end, I'd like to share the following tips:
1. Be conscious of stand-by modes
According to a December 2011 report by the Australian, State and Territory, and New Zealand Governments, entitled 'Third Survey of Residential Power Consumption of Australian Homes – 2010', while newer products are by and large using less standby power, many individual products continue to use more power in low power modes than is required to perform the desired function.
As such, home occupiers may want to consider avoiding the use of stand-by power options on appliances and home entertainment and office equipment, including televisions, game consoles and computers.
2. Cut down on electricity and hot water usage
Cutting down on electricity and water consumption can often take a degree of conscious effort – however, if done effectively, such effort can potentially lead to considerably reduced household electricity costs.
There are a number of simple steps that can be taken to try and reduce electricity and hot water consumption including, but not limited to: turning lights off during the day and when no one is in a room; occasionally hand washing and drying dishes and clothes; unplugging seldom-used appliances and chargers; limiting showers to shorter time periods; setting computers to 'sleep' or 'hibernate' modes; and increasing clothing and covering as opposed to turning on heaters and the like.
3. Consider a power monitor
Another potential way to address electricity costs is to identify home appliances and systems that are not operating in energy efficient manners. One possible way of doing such is to install a power monitoring system – something that would likely incur a home owner an up-front expense, but could potentially save them a great deal of money in the long-term.
There are a number of benefits often associated with power monitoring systems, the main of which being the increased understanding that home occupiers can potentially gain through having access to qualified data on their energy use.
Through appraising the data generated by a power monitor, a home occupier can ascertain how and where electricity is being used, which may help them to identify prospects for improving efficiency and reducing electricity consumption.
In summary
Dealing with consistently rising electricity prices is evidently an issue that many Australians are facing. However, through making some minor adjustments to mindsets, habits and behaviours there are certainly prospects for mitigating potential increases to household electricity costs.