Published: The Daily Telegraph Date: 26 September 2010
Power rangers ... Kelly Ackers with her son Tavish are participating in the Energy Saving Challenge Campaign at their Rutherford home in rural NSW.
Source: The Sunday Telegraph
Being able to see where your power is going puts you a step ahead when it comes to saving energy.
The households were following have all been given wireless energy monitors for the Save Power Challenge.
The monitors show just how much power everyday appliances and equipment are using, sometimes with surprising results. Take Kelly Ackers, who lives with husband, Shea, and baby son, Tavish, in Rutherford.
Kelly has only had her monitor for a couple of days, but has already had a few eye-openers. It really makes you think, she said. I never realised how much energy the oven and stovetop took.
They're so essential, you don't even think about it. Last night, I had a few things on the range hood, the oven and the stove and it [the monitor] went through the roof!
She is becoming more energy aware: I realised that the seal on the oven isn't great. Just thinking about it [energy efficiency] made me look at that.
It is a bit of a slow oven and that's probably why.
Kelly checks the monitor before leaving home: It costs around $50-$60 a year just to leave my laptop on, so I've made a vow to turn it on and off.
When I left the house today, I realised I'd left it on. The monitor is very good for reminding you.
She has also had energy-efficient showerheads installed. I was a bit reticent initially, because it didn't look as though it'd be able to pump out much water, and I had visions of having to run around to get wet. But they're pretty good. The energy assessor put a timer in the shower as well.
It's right next to where the taps are and we're taking much shorter showers now. It's surprising how fast three or four minutes passes.
She has picked up lots of tips and ideas. Our assessor was really good. I learned a lot talking to him. He suggested simple things you can do like using a heavy-duty door snake. We get quite a draft through our front door and its annoying when the door rattles, but I didn't really think about the repercussions. Now I know it's letting out our turn everything off at the power point and not leave things on standby when we leave the house.