Here’s our top tips to reduce your gas usage and increase your savings:
Efficient Home Heating
- Centralise Heating: Focus on heating your main living spaces rather than individual rooms. Set your thermostat between 18 and 20 degrees Celsius. Each degree above 20°C can increase energy use by about 15%.
- Keep Warm Air In: Close doors to unused rooms and draw curtains to block out the cold. Draught snakes are also low-cost ninjas to stop heat from sneaking out under doors. Believe it or not, up to 40% of your precious winter warmth can leak under doors and out window cracks!
Reduce Hot Water Usage
- Install Low-Flow Shower Heads: Upgrade to a 5-star low-flow showerhead. Government rebates might even help cover the cost—score!
- Take Shorter Showers: Aim for four-minute showers to save 24 litres of water per shower and up to $200 a year on water and energy bills.
Smart Cooking
- Optimise Oven Use: Skip preheating unless necessary and ensure oven door seals are intact to prevent heat loss.
- Stovetop Efficiency: Match pan sizes to burner sizes to avoid wasting energy, and turn off burners early and let residual heat finish cooking.
Energy-Efficient Purchases
- Check Ratings: Look for Energy and Water Rating Labels when buying new appliances to choose the most efficient models.
- Consider Electric Appliances: Switch to electric appliances, especially if you have solar panels, to maximise energy savings.
Changes in circumstances
- More people in the house: Extra people mean extra costs. Keep an eye on usage, especially at peak periods, in the house as this can blow out your gas usage.
- New appliances: New appliances, such as a larger gas hot water unit, can increase the amount of usage
Usage trends
- Compare your usage in your Energy Locals online account: Here you can monitor your usage trends to see what’s having the most impact.
Confirm if appliance is connected to hot water inlet FIRST, modern appliances have cold water only inlet, with built in electric water heaters - therefore no impact on gas bill [JB1]