VERDE GREEN LIVING FEATURE
PONIE DE WET | DIRECTOR | ALLSAFE ENERGY EFFICIENT PRODUCTS
GOING GREEN WHEN TIMES ARE LEAN
MAKING YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS MORE ENERGY EFFICIENT NEED NOT BE AN EXPENSIVE EXERCISE. HERE ARE SOME TIPS FOR GOING GREEN ON A BUDGET. I’m often asked what changes should be made first when embarking on the “greening” of a home or workplace to cut power bills and help the environment. The question becomes tougher when posed by someone on a tight budget, as often those who can least afford a skyrocketing power bill are most in-need of changes. Not everyone is able to place a 5kW solar power system on their roof. Yet, from a home and business owner’s perspective, a number of government incentive programs currently offset the cost of energy efficient devices. For this reason, solar panels, solar hot water and wind turbines are very much worth considering. But what should you do when you rent your home or live in an apartment and solar power panels are not a practical solution? In short, start small. Firstly, switch electrical items off at the wall
or power board: Just like vampires leach blood, appliances that are left plugged in can drain as much power as the actual device when it’s activated. The main culprits are phone chargers, clothes washers, tumble dryers, VCR/DVDs and computers. An average microwave is used less than 10 minutes per day but leaches standby power for 23 hours and 50 minutes. Unplug it or use our ‘EcoSwitch’ solution with a power board. This alone can save an average household up to $112 a year. For businesses, this figure can be multiplied, depending on the number of electrical items drawing standby power. Phase out incandescent, fluro tubes and compact fluro (CFL) lightbulbs and install light emitting diodes (LEDs). If an average home swapped 20 to 40 100W incandescent bulbs for 5W to 30W LED lights, bills could be
cut by around 70 per cent. Plus prices for these products have become quite affordable. Another option is to fit a skylight. This is a great move for businesses as a few modern tubular skylights can easily halve a lighting bill. At home, kitchens, laundries, studies, robes and all dark areas benefit from natural light brought in by skylights. Well-lit buildings not only save energy and money, but also appear larger, more inviting and are great home/office improvement options. If your building isn’t insulated or if you have less than adequate insulation in your roof or walls, it’s time to upgrade. Extra batts can easily be fitted over existing ceiling insulation. The savings made on cooling/heating bills will often repay the outlay within a few years. Take advantage of incentives/rebates on offer as even small green steps are better than none.
YOUR ENERGY REDUCTION SUPERSTORE SOLAR HOT WATER Helps reduce energy bills and provides non scolding hot water
HEAT PUMP SOLAR POWER
SOLAR ROOF VENTS
Will reduce your energy bill year after year
Reduces heat buildup and costs nothing to run
Provides extremely energy efficient hot water and doesn’t require solar panels. Easy changeover from existing electric hot water
THE NEW ‘SUPERGREEN’ iPHONE APP
INSULATION
SKYLIGHTS
LED LIGHTING
For ceiling, walls, home theatre room and under floors
Brings natural light into dark spaces
Retrofit to long lasting energy efficient lighting
161 Ingham Road West End Townsville
BSA: 1180613
PHONE 4772 7655 / 1300ALLSAFE
www.all-safe.com.au
This FREE iPhone application is a real breakthrough allowing people to roughly calculate their payback, dollar savings and carbon emission (C02) savings if they were to install a solar power, wind power or a solar hot water unit. It’s easy to use and is a great tool to help consumers decide which energy efficient products best suit their home or business location.
FREE DOWNLOAD * Valid until Sept 2011
at www.all-safe.com.au/iphoneapp or search for SUPERGREEN in iTunes.
OTHER STORE LOCATIONS – MACKAY– BUNDABERG – MAROOCHYDORE – LAWNTON – ENOGGERA – LOGAN – GOLD COAST – TWEED HEADS – TOOWOOMBA 5