Case study

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Case study Carbon Cops Plus!

• One familys efforts to reduce carbon emissions
  from their home

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Why would one family bother to reduce their
carbon emissions?

• Because
• it makes us feel better more empowered
• We can help others do the same, by example
• Its not hard to do, and
• Its fun!
• But more importantly......

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• Because the way the CPRS is going, the big
  polluters (ie coal fired power stations)will not
  have to reduce their emissions significantly, and
  it will be up to businesses and householders to
  bear the brunt of reducing emissions.

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Of course, we should all be writing and speaking
with our State and Federal politicians to protest
about their lack of action on reducing
Australias emissions, and using our vote to
bring about action. But in truth, it appears to
be business as usual, so many individuals feel
frustrated and want to take personal action.
This will speak very loudly to our political
representatives, and send a clear message that we
are ready to embrace change in fact we have
already started!
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The house
Built 1951 Brick veneer Two storey 4
bedrooms Insulated ceilings
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Electricity useage 1985 - 2009
1.5Kw solar system April 2009
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Gas useage 1985 - 2009
Solar hot water May 2003
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How have these reductions been made?

• The tools
• low energy globes, draught stoppers etc
• review of electricity and gas bills
• easy to use switches
• the central heating or air conditioner
  thermostat
• an extra layer of clothing
• the best personal saver of all the electric
  throw rug!
• solar hot water
• solar electricity system 1.5kW

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Know your electricity and gas bills A record of
useage is wonderful to have it gives positive
feedback and great encouragement for continual
improvement It is easy to set up in an Excel
file, with automatically generated graphs, but
could just as easily be completed by hand on a
sheet of graph paper
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Set up easy to use switches Appliances on
standby can use considerable power, and ideally
such items should be turned off at the power
point. But power points are located in corners
and in accessible, hidden places, with bending
down required! A batten with switches on a
bench, right in front of you, encourages you to
switch off rather than leave on standby.
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A switched batten within easy reach allows us to
switch off the microwave when its not in use
the clock pulls 5W when it is lit, and switching
it off helps reduce standby power for 23.5 hours
per day
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Switched batten for stereo, lamp, throw rug and
modem
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A cosy jacket or jumper can keep you naturally
warm, and generates far fewer CO2 emissions than
using a room heater.
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....and in the summer?

• Try cooling to a higher temperature
• Instead of setting your air conditioner
  thermostat to 22C, set it to 28C. If its 35C
  or more outside, its surprisingly easy to feel
  comfortable at 28C.
• Or better still, use a fan.
• In the evening, when the air starts to cool a
  little, open windows in different rooms. Point
  the fan out of one window, so that it draws warm
  air out of the house, and cool air is drawn in
  through the other open window.
• VOILA! Cool breezes without huge emissions!

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The electric throw rug is this centurys best
invention! When studying, watching TV, reading,
use one of these rugs for instant, very low
wattage personal comfort. Allows you to keep the
heating turned down low say 16C instead of
22C Made by Sunbeam, and around 90 at places
like Harvey Norman.
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You can dial up the heat for instant warmth, or
dial it down for cosy comfort
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Solar electric (photovoltaic) system great,
but not a necessity for low-power living . Our
system 1.5 kW, designed to deliver, on average
each year, 6.5 kWh per day The average
Australian household uses 17 kWh per day. With
changes to habits, we have brought this down to
6.5 7 kWh per day, which is an excellent match
for the system. On sunny days in September, our
system delivers over 10 kWh, so we have exported
to the grid.
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Tracking electricity useage
Efforts to reduce begin
Kids studying, then both leave home by start of
2006
Nana dies
1.5Kw solar system April 2009
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Gas useage 1985 - 2009
Solar hot water May 2003
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Gas (central heating, hot water, cooking)
Nana dies 1993 central heating turned down
quite a few degrees after this
Solar hot water May 2003
Efforts to reduce begin
Kids studying, leave home start 2006
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How have these reductions been made?

• Turning down the central heating from twenties
  to teens (and wearing the cosy jackets)
• Installation of solar hot water as an add-on to
  a solar-ready Aquamax gas hot water service
• Turning off even the pilot light of the Aquamax
  November to April (although it needs to be relit
  over some cool, cloudy spells)

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The house is a relatively heat leaky structure,
and is not special in any way. Its just our
expectations and habits which determine our CO2
emissions through gas and electricity useage.
And expectations and habits can be
changed! Try it its fun!