8 easy eco home ideas

By Alex Brooks

GreenPower

One of the single most effective things to cut your home's carbon emissions is to ensure some - or, ideally, all - of their electricity comes from GreenPower. Under the GreenPower scheme, consumers specify how much of their power should be generated from "clean" sources - wind, solar, hydro or waste - and the power generator buys an equivalent amount of power from those renewable sources, creating more clean energy providers.

For an average family, ticking the box for 100 per cent GreenPower would cost around $400 extra a year, although supporters of the scheme point out that the real figure could be less if the household also reduced its consumption by doing things like converting to energy efficient light bulbs. Opting for 10 per cent GreenPower would add about a dollar a week to the average bill.
To get maximum bang for your green buck, however, it's important to choose a GreenPower accredited scheme.
* Greenpower scheme
www.greenpower.gov.au
* Green Electricity Watch
www.greenelectricitywatch.org.au

Standby power

If you're not using it - switch it off. SOunds boring, doesn't it? Most of us fail to turn off the dozens of electrical devices around the house when they are not required. While  TVs, stereos and mobile phone chargers are plugged in on stand-by they are silently wasting up to 10 per cent of your annual power bill.
Cutting down on this waste can be as simple as doing an audit of the appliances in your home and deciding which needs to be switched on permanently (such as the fridge) and which can be turned off until required. One trick is to group appliances together that can be switched off and plug them into a single power board. That way they can all be switched off together.
* Energy Efficient Appliances
www.energyrating.gov.au/standby.html

Light bulbs

Conventional incandescent light bulbs are very inefficient, converting more than 90 per cent of their energy into useless heat. And the halogen downlights so beloved of kitchen designers everywhere are scarcely any better in environmental terms.
By changing all the incandescent bulbs around the house to the widely available compact fluorescent lights, the average home can slash its light bill by 75 per cent, with a corresponding reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
Solving the problem of halogen downlights is a little more complex. The ideal replacement for energy-guzzling downlights are LED (light-emitting diode) lamps but the technology is still developing and it may be a couple of years before LEDs are powerful enough to be a true downlight replacement. Infrared-coated halogen bulbs are a reasonable compromise and are much more efficient than conventional halogens - however, they are also a lot more expensive.
* Compact fluorescent bulbs
http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/education/cfls.html
* Lighting your home
http://www.climatesmart.qld.gov.au/your-home/lounge/lighting

Shower efficiently

On average, 20 per cent of the water used on the home goes down the plughole in the bathroom. A water-efficient showerhead will cut the amount of water used by about 50 per cent and also trim the amount of electricity used to heat the water. Modern showerheads are designed to restrict water flow to about 7 litres a minute while still delivering an invigorating shower.
* Water saving tips
http://www.sydneywater.com.au/SavingWater/WaterSavingTips
* The WaterFix program
http://www.sydneywater.com.au/SavingWater/InYourHome/WaterFix

Wash clothes in cold water

According to the Australian Greenhouse Office, the average washing machine in a year produces about 90kg of greenhouse gases while heating up the water to do the family load adds another 475kg of greenhouse gasses. The motto: wash clothes in cold water. Detergent, plus the efficient action of modern washing machines means a cold wash will do the job just as well as using hot water.
* Efficient clothes washers
http://www.energyrating.gov.au/cwl.html

Dry clothes naturally

Used three times a week, the average clothes drier will add about $100 to your annual electricity bill and also generate about 500kg of greenhouse gases. It's pretty easy to get into the habit of relying on an electric drier but pegging out your clothes on a washing line the old-fashioned way is a very smart environmental choice. Obviously, it won't be possible with every load - especially when it's raining - but it makes sense to use the clothesline wherever possible. It's also kinder to your clothes.
* Air drying clothes
www.climatesmart.qld.gov.au/your-home/laundry/clothes-drying
* Project Laundry List
www.laundrylist.org

Use air conditioners efficiently

If you're going to use an air conditioner in your home, there are things you can do to make sure it works as efficiently as possible and uses as little energy as possible. AGL recommends a summer setting of between 24 and 27 degrees. Every 1 degree cooler will add between 10 and 15 per cent to your energy costs. AGL also recommends turning off the air conditioner for about 15 minutes each hour, as well as only cooling the rooms that you use - other rooms can be sealed off.
* Efficient air conditioning
www.energyrating.gov.au/acuse.html

Check your fridge

After your hot water service, the fridge is the biggest energy consumer in the home as it hums away in the kitchen all day, every day. So it's wise to make sure it is working as efficiently as possible and that the door seals are in good order. A dirty, poorly fitting or worn out door seal should be replaced.
The way you use the fridge - for instance by putting cold items back into the fridge immediately - also has a big effect on efficiency. According to the Australian Greenhouse Office, cooling a two-litre drink bottle back down from room temperature generates 10 times as much greenhouse gas as does opening the fridge door.
* Choosing an efficient fridge
http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/gwci/refrigerators.html