2024-07-04
Getting your home and car off fossil fuels can save up to $5000 a year, but governments need to do much more to assist households with the upfront costs of making this important transition
Rob Delves is a member of the Green Issue Editorial team
OK, you’re saying that making my house clean and green will help me deal with this cost-of-living crisis that’s making life very uncomfortable right now.
How much can this clean electric transition help?
You’d be very pleasantly surprised just how much you can save each year. For example, a 2021 Report by Rewiring Australia shows that Australian families could save $5,000 per year by replacing their current cars with electric vehicles, switching from natural gas to all-electric appliances and fitting rooftop solar and a battery.
Sounds unbelievable. So, what exactly do I need to do to make these $5000 annual savings?
Change all your inefficient and dirty fossil fuel ways, as follows:
1. Improve the energy efficiency of your house – how about some insulation, external shading and draught-proofing for starters.
2. Install cheap generation and storage – solar panels and batteries.
3. Buy efficient electric appliances – the four main ones are reverse cycle air conditioning, induction cooktops, electric hot water and LED lights.
4. Go all-electric transport – e-bikes and/or EVs, plus bi-directional charging (vehicle to home, vehicle to grid).
OK, let’s talk money: Give me some examples of how renewable electric is supposed to be much cheaper than the fossil fuel alternatives.
How about these four examples (calculations based on the average Australian household):
1. Home heating and cooling (per day):
Gas $1.98, Electric with solar panels and batteries: $0.59
2. Hot water (one long shower):
Gas $0.66, Electric with solar panels and batteries: $0.20
3. Cooktops (annual):
Gas $139, Electric with solar panels and batteries: $74
4. Transport (mid-sized car per 100km):
Petrol $12.14, Electric with solar panels and batteries: $4.00
(EVs have drastically lower running costs – due to their simpler maintenance and cheaper refuelling – NRMA calculates on average, EV owners save from $810 to $1,400 per year).
Wow - my home budget calculator loves those numbers. But let’s get real, shops don’t give away things like EVs and induction cooktops for free. So, to begin enjoying these savings, I must be able to afford the very high costs involved. These upfront costs would seem to make it extremely difficult for me and all low and even most middle-income households to get started - and almost impossible for nearly all renters.
Indeed, well spotted. And that’s why governments need to step in boldly and help. There are several important things government could do to make it easier for individuals to make the transition to full home electrification. Here are five suggestions:
1. Provide subsidies to reduce upfront costs, for example, for household batteries.
2. Make fuel efficiency standards much stricter, which will encourage import of more and cheaper EVs.
3. Provide financial and practical assistance to communities seeking to set up solar and battery initiatives.
4. Offer low-cost loans to all households to purchase electric appliances or solar panels and batteries (similar to Rewiring Australia’s Electrify Everything Loan Scheme).
5. Enact minimum energy efficiency standards and enable electrification for rental properties.
BUT you just need to make sure you vote in a government that understands this stuff.
Like the Greens, maybe? What are the Australian Greens offering?
The Greens support the five initiatives just mentioned. They have committed to the following policies to assist the rapid transition from gas to renewable electric households:
1. Support households and small businesses to get off gas and move to electric alternatives, that are better for our health and the environment, through grants of up to $25k and loans up to $100k.
2. Kickstart a household battery boom, with grants of up to $10k and loans up to $50k.
3. Work with states and territories to ban gas in new housing developments.
4. Create a non-profit publicly owned retailer to push down power bills and increase take-up of green energy.
I love those Greens.
Data source: https://www.rewiringaustralia.org/report/castles-cars-technical-study
Header Photo: Solar panel on residential rooftop. Credit: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-solar-panel-on-roof-tiles-9875445/
Opinions expressed are those of the author and not official policy of Greens WA]