Electrify Your Home
25 November 2024
Switching home appliances and services that use fossil fuels to green electricity reduces carbon emissions and health-harming pollutants in the home. By 2030, Australian households that decarbonise with green electrification are also expected to reduce energy and fuel costs by 80%, an energy saving of around $4200 per year.[i] Around a third of Australian households now have rooftop solar, a building block for green electrification. If you can’t get rooftop solar, you should begin a conversation with your community about sharing PV and community batteries that store green, renewable energy.
Electrification includes services and appliances for:
- Transport
- Space heating and cooling
- Water heating
- Cooking
How do I electrify transport?
Use an Electric Vehicle (EV) and other electric options such as e-bikes, e-scooters, and e-buses (if available). The WA Government offers incentives that reduce the cost of EVs.[ii] Use a large rooftop solar system to source cheap energy from the sun to recharge your vehicle at reduced or zero cost. Use free and low-cost community chargers at supermarkets or elsewhere in the community that form part of charging networks.
How do I electrify heating, cooling, and cooking?
Converting your electrical or gas hot water system to an efficient heat pump or solar hot water system will reduce carbon emissions and save you money over the life of the system.[iii] A heat pump takes heat energy from surrounding air and heats this air with energy sourced from renewable sources (e.g. solar PV) to heat water in a storage tank. Reverse cycle air conditioning works similarly on heat pump principles and is another way of reducing energy costs for home heating and cooling. Replacing gas heating in winter with reverse cycle air conditioning saves money, reduces carbon pollution and is better for your health (no carbon monoxide or nitrogen dioxide). In the kitchen, you can replace your gas stove with induction electric, again leveraging rooftop solar and reducing greenhouse gas pollution.
Around 42% of greenhouse gas pollution can be ultimately sourced to households. Electrification can be used to reduce household emissions so that households can do their part in fighting climate change.
Sources/References:
[i] Rewiring Australia (2021). Castles and Cars- Savings in the Suburbs through Electrifying Everything: Discussion Paper. P.17. Retrieved from: https://www.rewiringaustralia.org/report/castles-and-cars-discussion-paper
[ii] Government of Western Australia. Dept. of Transport. (2022). Zero Emission Vehicle Rebate. Retrieved from: https://www.transport.wa.gov.au/projects/zero-emission-vehicle-zev-rebate.asp
[iii] Rewiring Australia (2021). P.14
Discussion