Energy Makeovers

As an Accredited Person under the Victorian Energy Efficiency Target scheme, more widely known as the Energy Saver Incentive, Energy Makeovers has been delivering energy efficiency improvements to hundreds of thousands of Victorian households.

They have installed energy and water saving products such as efficient light bulbs, draught sealing, smart power adaptors, and water saving shower heads, most recently acting in partnership with Bendigo Bank. Since there are many households and businesses who could benefit from the scheme but are not aware of it, Energy Makeovers has promoted the scheme widely and has been the first to work with other businesses to offer discounts to households on products such as energy efficient TV’s and whitegoods, pool pumps and windows.

On Monday the 22nd of October, 2012, Energy Makeovers created its 1 millionth Victorian Energy Efficiency Certificate, or VEEC. Each VEEC is equivalent to a tonne of greenhouse gas emission being abated over 10 years, according to the Essential Services Commission and Department of Primary Industries. With the creation of 1 million VEECs, Energy Makeovers has abated 1 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent to about 250,000 cars being taken off the road for a year.

Energy Makeovers continues to deliver energy saving products to the Victorian community and is currently investigating the best products and packages to offer, for example, to replace power-hungry residential halogen downlights and retrofit lighting for commercial buildings. They are looking forward to helping the Victorian community become a more sustainable society with the abatement of the next million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.

For further information, contact Energy Makeovers at 1300 90 14 16.

1 June 2012: Bendigo Bank’s Generation Green™ initiative has launched a new energy saving program called Switch to Save which will see thousands of Victorians lower their energy bills and reduce their impact on the environment.

From today, customers and members of the community (including those who don’t bank with the Bendigo) will be able to visit a Bendigo Bank branch and sign up to have Standby Power Controllers, called Embertec SmartSwitches™, valued at $100 each installed in their homes for free.

Bendigo Bank has partnered with Energy Makeovers, an Australian company dedicated to assisting families and businesses with energy efficiency solutions, to deliver and install the switches in participating households.

Bendigo Bank’s Head of Environment and Sustainability Trudy Ellery said the simple switch could save households as much as $200 a year, when you consider this saving will apply for 22,000 homes that’s a saving of $44 million in energy costs over the next 10 years.

“The switches look like a double adapter and manage energy consumption on televisions and computers; two appliances which significantly contribute to our power bills,” Ms Ellery said.

“For example if a TV remote or computer keyboard isn’t touched for a few hours, the switch will ensure the energy supply is shut down,” she said.

Ms Ellery said the Bank’s 228 Victorian branches are aiming to register 22,000 homes by the end of July, which will see almost 60,000 switches installed.

“Each house can receive up to four controllers and we estimate Switch to Save will not only save people money, but also reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 220,000 tonnes; that’s the equivalent of taking more than 50,000 cars off the road for a whole year,” Ms Ellery said.

In addition to saving money and the environment, Bendigo Bank is adding another initiative to the Switch to Save program.
“For every participating household our branches will distribute $15 to help support a neighbouring school undertake sustainable projects,” Ms Ellery said.

“We hope this will not only provide an additional incentive to encourage community participation, but more importantly help to educate young people about the benefits of thinking green.”

To register or for more information please visit your local Bendigo Bank branch, go to www.bendigobank.com.au or call Energy Makeovers on 1300 98 26 28.

The Home Energy Project (also known as the RBEE project), managed by CSIRO in partnership with Energy Makeovers and other organisations, have so far signed up over 250 households to volunteer nationally to help advance research on residential energy use… and see how they can save on energy bills. As a partner organisation, Energy Makeovers conducts the home assessments and energy ratings for the project, among other things.

The project is still looking for volunteers!

If you take part you will get a unique opportunity to understand how your home uses energy.

The benefits include:

Saving power: a report on your house will give you a better understanding of your energy use.
Top science: a report on your home’s energy use, including thermal images, will show you ways to save energy.
Earn money: You’ll get A$100 for looking after and returning a pair of thermometers, and some homes may have an energy monitor installed, valued at A$1500, to provide online access showing where your electricity is being used.
Help Australia save energy! CSIRO will use the project’s findings to help Australians understand how their homes use energy.

Hurry, registrations close on 9 March 2012. Visit http://www.csiro.au/ house for more information and to register.

According to an article published by The Fifth Estate, Stockland, a leading residential mass-market developer, claims its new houses can save more than $2000 in energy bills compared to the average four bedroom home in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith. To view the article, click here.

In accordance with the Building Code of Australia, new houses now must be built to a 6 star energy rating standard, out of a maximum of 10 stars. Compared to the average existing house, which would rate at a dismal 0 or 1 star energy rating, these new houses excel in keeping warmth inside in winter and cool in summer, thus requiring less heating and cooling to stay comfortable, provided that they have been constructed to a good quality according to the design.

There have been a number of media articles regarding homes designed to 6 stars but poorly constructed in areas such as weather sealing and insulation and therefore do not give the expected energy savings. If you are buying a new home we recommend assessing the build quality of the house or you could hire a professional to do an assessment; a more involved option would be to conduct a blower door thermography test, which measures the amount of heat/coolth escaping your house due to poor weather sealing.

Buying new energy efficient appliances also help greatly in reducing your energy costs, and for example retailers like Harvey Norman now only stock TV sets that are 5-6 stars or higher. Of particular focus should be appliances that will be on for extended hours – fridges, freezers, TV’s, dishwashers and the lighting in your home.

With a combination of good design, a decent installation of insulation and weather sealing, and efficient appliances, living sustainably and with low energy bills is easier than what many people think. For advice on energy efficient improvements to your house and home assessments, visit Energy Makeovers’ website at www.energymakeovers.com.au and feel free to contact us.

Energy Makeovers is now offering every Victorian household free installation of the innovative new Embertec Emberplug, a solution to the ever-growing problem of standby power consumption.

As modern households accumulate more appliances such as TV systems and PC’s, the electricity that these appliances consume, even when they are turned off, is becoming more and more costly to the household power bill. The appliances typically go into ‘standby mode’ when turned off, where they are still using a small amount of power. However, over the course of weeks and months, this ‘standby power’ consumption can stack up to become upto 10-15% of household power bills.

The Emberplug is a smart plug adaptor designed to be installed with your TV or PC system and eliminate this wasted power without the inconvenience of having to switch off the appliances at the wall plug. The Emberplug automatically identifies when you are not using the TV or PC and switches off the power to appliances that are connected to your TV or PC such as the set top box, speakers, scanner or printer.

Energy Makeovers is currently able to offer the Emberplug to be installed for free through the Victorian Government’s Energy Saver Incentive program, which places obligations on energy retailers to pay for energy efficiency upgrades to households.

Each Emberplug is valued at around $100 retail – don’t miss your chance to get this innovative power saving product before our stock disappears! To find out more, click here or call to book your installation at 1300 788 776.

Energy Makeovers made a submission to the Residential Mandatory Disclosure consultation process outlining our support for a Level 1 assessment using a NatHERS-based tool for rating of dwellings, to enable an accurate rating of existing houses that is comparable with the NatHERS ratings required for new houses. Click here to view our submission paper.

The national scientific research body CSIRO is partnering with Energy Makeovers for conducting a study in 500 homes across Australia to assess the energy used for heating and cooling.

Where and how your house is built can affect how much energy you need to use to keep the inside temperature comfortable throughout the year. CSIRO is investigating the inside temperature of 500 homes, alongside the amount of energy used to heat and cool the space.

Sign up today. It’s easy to take part!

If your house is less than 10 years old and you live in Adelaide, Brisbane or Melbourne, you can register to become one of the study households.

What are the benefits of taking part?

If you take part you will get a unique opportunity to understand how your home uses energy. Benefits include:

* learning how to reduce your energy bills
* a report on your home’s heating and cooling energy performance
* a set of infrared photographs that show if you are losing heating and cooling and where it is going
* A$100 cash for looking after and returning a pair of thermometers, and
* some homes may be eligible for installation of an energy monitor, valued at A$1500, to provide online access showing where your electricity is being used.

For more information on the project and registering to get involved, click here to see the CSIRO website.

The Ministerial Council on Energy, the national policy and governance body comprising of state and federal ministers, yesterday released the long-awaited Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) for the proposed legislation to mandate disclosure of energy efficiency, greenhouse emissions and water efficiency of residential property at point of sale and lease.

Click here to view the RIS.

The RIS documents the purpose and aims of residential mandatory disclosure legislation, as well as the options for implementing the scheme, a cost-benefit analysis of each option and the estimated impact on industry and society. It provides a basis for public consultation on the options described in the document, and consultation sessions will be held in each state to allow public input into the process, in addition to online meetings.

Click here to view the government bulletin listing the session schedule and consultation process.

For more information on Residential Mandatory Disclosure, visit our RMD webpage

In “Energy rating adds to value 160711“, an article by Robert Harley published on the Weekend Australian Financial Review on July 16-17.

The article explains how the pricing of carbon through the hotly debated Carbon Tax reform would benefit owners of energy efficient homes, with the rise in energy prices focusing attention on saving energy. It would also create an incentive for buyers and renters to look closer at energy ratings of homes being sold or leased.

The author cites the federal government (ABS) study on the ACT real estate market which found that property value increased with higher energy ratings, “by almost 2 percent for each half star” [out of 5 stars]. The study was investigating the effect of residential mandatory disclosure, a legislation the ACT has had since 1999 that requires disclosure of energy ratings when selling or leasing property.

Residential mandatory disclosure legislation is set to be implemented nationally in 2012-2013, by agreement of the state governments. The regulatory impact statement (RIS) detailing the legislation and its potential impacts is due soon – keep an eye on our residential mandatory disclosure webpage for more information.