Published: The Daily Telegraph Date: 25 October 2010
Shant and Chrystalla Soghomonian outside their Forestville home in Sydney, are taking part in The Sunday Telegraph and Department of Enviroment and Water NSW Energy Saving challenge.
Source: The Sunday Telegraph
Chrystalla Soghomonian is proud of how energy-conscious her husband Shant has become since they signed up for the Sunday Telegraph-Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water NSW (DECCW)'s Save Power Challenge.
Before starting the Challenge six weeks ago, the Forestville couple, who are expecting their first child, were paying up to $1000 for their quarterly electricity bills.
"For two people, that's a huge amount," Chrystalla says.
Much of their power-saving efforts have focused on re-thinking old habits. Shant has cut down his showering time to four minutes - almost a quarter of what it used to be.
Chrystalla has worked out that their pool pump uses 4.3kW per hour and now switches it on manually to run for six hours every two days, rather than eight hours every day.
This is done during off-peak periods, and will save around 1935kW per billing quarter, or around $348.
The dishwasher is also being used during off-peak periods only, and Chrystalla now scrapes dirty dishes rather than rinsing them before stacking the dishwasher.
As summer approaches, Chrystalla plans to use a fan instead of air conditioning on all but the hottest days.
She also turns all appliances off at the wall, only uses cold water to wash clothes, and keeps lights used in the house to a minimum: "My husband used to sit in the study playing on the computer, and would have the desk lamp and the (ceiling) light on," she says.
"I used to nag him about this, or about taking shorter showers, but now I don't have to nag as much. He's finally getting into good habits."
Shant has been encouraging Chrystalla to reduce her power usage too, and regularly checks their energy monitor, which was installed as part of the Challenge.
"When I put the hair dryer on, he'll run and check the energy monitor to see how much power I'm using," Chrystalla says.
Shant is also considering investing in solar panels and a water tank.
With a baby on the way, Chrystalla says she's becoming more aware of how important it is to cut down wastage and do her bit for the environment.
"We never really thought about future generations before," she says.
"But now we're thinking of our children growing up and how the climate is changing.
"I want everything to be around while my son is growing up. I want him to grow up in a healthy environment, not one that's polluted and where water is running out."
Now that they're aware of how much power can be saved by making small changes, Chrystalla and Shant are spreading the word among their family and friends.