Poor Energy Habits Slug Households $300 Million a Year
by Warren McLaren, Sydney 
on 06.30.08
Am way behind with my posts, but let’s try to get back up to speed with this one. Earlier this month EnergyAustralia released the results of a survey they’d undertaken in the Australian state of New South Wales. Seems that collectively households in NSW are squandering about $300 million AUD annually, by not using energy wisely. And this was particularly true of those who could least afford the expense, like those on low incomes.
And it in’t just dollars that are being wasted, but about 2.5 million tonnes of greenhouse gases are being emitted annually as well, said to be equal to putting another 500,000 cars on the road each year.
According to the survey nearly 90% of all households rinsed their dishes before bunging them in the dishwasher. Some even rinsed in hot water. Well over a quarter of households ran dishwasher that weren’t full. A similar figure had a second fridge running that they rarely used. More stats and energy saving suggestions after the fold.
Stats
Most operated their air conditioners on a too warm setting in winter. Almost 25% of all people surveyed left their fridge open when unloading shopping. Nearly half hadn’t bothered to activate their home computer’s energy saver settings and close to three quarters of households turn off their television with the remote rather that at the power switch, leaving it on standby mode to guzzle electricity.
Demographics
The survey found that while almost 70% of people used a clothes line to dry clothes it was low income households that more often or not chose to use an electric close dryer. This was also the case with age. Older folk were more diligent in hanging up clothes for solar dry whereas young people surveyed chose the dryer. Yoof were found to leave the fridge open whilst making sandwiches or prepping their breakfast.
Energy Saving Tips
In their media release (link below) EnergyAustralia suggest that 10 easy steps could have households saving over $600 AUD per year. For example, point 6. suggests that reducing showers by 2 minutes will save $100 alone. Getting rid of that second fridge that’s doing nothing much at all in the garage would save another 200 bucks.
But what’s the chance that people will stop their whingeing about the price of petrol long enough to action these money-saving changes? EnergyAustralia is hoping that providing 280,000 sheets of reusable stickers (decals) of energy saving household tips will be enough to dampen down demand for their electricity. We wish them well.
:: Energy Australia Energy Saving Survey and Tips (PDF), via Sydney Morning Herald.
See Also:
Phantom Power and Standby
• Eco-Tip: Powerboards
• Eco-Tip: Home Appliances
• TreeHuggerTV on Vampire Power A Modern Classic!
• USB smart powerstrip
Clotheslines
• The lowdown on clotheslines
• 75,000 clotheslines given away
How To Go Green:
• Electricity
• Dishwasher
• Rental
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Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
- Forget Going Green Because It's the Right Thing to Do—Go Green to Make Your Neighbors Jealous
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- Create a Go Green Plan: Follow Wa$ted!'s Salon Example
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This means a quarter of households in NSW actually turn off their TV's instead of leaving it in standby mode? That is actually impressive. I do, but I live with roommates and even after 2 years I haven't gotten them to do the same.
Americans are just lazy, I suppose.
We turn everything off at the surge-protectors and unplug the small appliances in the kitchen. Just doing this with our entertainment and coffee maker, grinder, toaster oven, and mixer - the first month saved us $80 USD on our electric bill.
I didn't know that about the remote leaving it in stand-by. I'll pass that along so that people will perhaps get up and walk the ten feet to turn off the tv.
Now if only I could convince my husband that 73 is starkly cold when it's up in the high 90s outside...
none of this will mean squat until the companies that manufacture these kinds of electronics build in more efficient standby modes or thicker insulation in fridges. Campaigns in the 70's couldn't change American habits, so don't expect it soon.
However, the biggest conservation (and abuse too) is in the business sector, not the consumer sector. Amory Levins points out that business conservation has actually increased dramatically since the 70's in industrial circles. Therefore, when industry is forced to conserve for their own savings, it trickles down to consumers. With rising energy costs beating up profits, you can be sure we will see more trickling down in the short term...