What you can do this year
Easy and energy smart ways to save money on your bills while staying warm. Tips include choosing and using a heating system, making use of the sun and keeping your house naturally protected through insulation, curtains and sealing gaps.
Try staying warm with these actions
For each action you have or will implment in your home, collect it by adding it to the My Actions panel (right). to see the difference you can achieve.
Action:
Top-up insulation
A lot of heat escapes through the doors, windows, walls and the roof of a house through conduction. Insulation can limit heat loss from your house by as much as 35 percent in winter.
Insulation works by creating a barrier to heat transfer. In winter, it helps keep your home warmer by trapping the warm air inside.
The easiest and most cost-effective way to insulate your home is to add insulation to the ceiling or in the roof. Installing or topping-up insulation in your ceiling can save you up to $325 and 41,800 balloons a year.
The most important thing to consider when choosing insulation is the ‘R value'. An R value is a measure of the insulation's resistance to heat flow and therefore, its performance. The higher the R-value, the better your walls and roof will resist the transfer of heat. For houses in metropolitan Melbourne, the minimum recommended ‘R' level for insulation is R2.5 to R3.0 for ceilings and R1.5 for walls.
What else you can do
Control the temperature
Install a timer or programmable thermostat to turn your heater on and off automatically.
Improve fireplaces
Block off unused open fireplaces to prevent heat escaping and install fireplace inserts or wood stoves into fireplaces if they are used regularly.
Refit your windows
To slow down the heat escaping through your windows, install energy efficient windows, for example double-glazing or secondary glazing.
Choose an energy efficient system
To make the right choice you need to ask the right questions. Doing your research will help you to answer crucial questions about:
- the size and function of the space to be heated
- how many people use the space
- how often you expect to use the space
- cost of purchase and ongoing maintenance
- the type of heater (gas, electricity, solid fuel, portable space heaters or solar air heaters)
- energy efficiency requirements.
My Actions
Select an action and see how much green house gas you will save this year.
YOU SAVED:
