Households
Glenroy father Robert Taylor had his old solar hot water system replaced through the Delivering Clean Energy Solutions (DCES) program in May 2011.
“Our old hot water system had been leaking water and needed replacing. We had been going through some of the various companies providing solar hot water but some of them didn’t even get back to us,’’ he said. “The DCES guys came as promised, answered our questions and installed the system in no time.”
Sasha recently came into the MEFL office and told us a great story about her energy bills (yes, it's true - we do get excited by energy bill stories here at MEFL!). She recently received an electricity bill which she didn't think twice about, then just two days later, she received a bill adjustment notifying her that her actual bill was more than $110 dollars less than previously stated.
The initial bill was an estimate based on electricity usage over the same period last year, during which she had used 14.07 kWh. However, when her electricity retailer came and read her meter, they found that her usage had actually nearly halved to 7.40kWh!
In 1949, John Hansen rode in the junior cycling championships (he is not sure whether it was the Gippsland regional championships or the Victorian championships, such is his care for competitions). He lapped everyone in the race but no one noticed and hence rather than being first in the race, he wasn’t awarded the trophy.
Rather than contesting the result, John went to work milking the cows.
Cycling has never been about competition for John, instead cycling has been about community, family, healthy living and sustainability.
Meet Mairi Rowan, a ZCM participant who hasn’t paid an electricity bill for two years. Mairi purchased solar panels for her North Coburg home through a community bulk-buy. However, the solar panels are not the only factor contributing to her low energy usage, “I blame ZCM for the fact that I turn my switches off at the wall all the time...that’s one of the reasons why the solar panels cover all of my electricity costs.”
Local Government can play a large part in reducing carbon emissions directly as well as playing a role in advocacy and community leadership. Moreland City Council supports the Zero Carbon Moreland campaign 100% and encourages
you to get behind it too.
Download this PDF to see the changes that Kathleen has made, at work and at home.
Laila and her family live in East Coburg.They have reduced their carbon footprint by reducing energy and reusing water around their home.
Download the family's action plan and see exactly how they did it.
Homeowners - Brunswick
ZCM participants Mary and Dan's strong interest in the environment has motivated them to take many actions to make their home more energy efficient, reduce their emissions and be more comfortable.
They are planning to renovate their home in the future, but in the meantime they've been able to reduce their emissions by doing many little things to make their home more energy efficient.
Peter has taken many important steps to try to reduce his carbon footprint.
The first thing he did was to sign up to Community Power with Origin. The deal was for 100% wind power (green) and offsets on his gas consumption. As Peter was paying a higher price for green power, he decided to reduce his total consumption to ensure that the dollar cost did not rise. He installed compact fluoros, draft snakes, cut down on the number of items left on 'standby' (switched them off at the wall), and 'zoned' his heating and cooling to a minimum number of rooms.
Homeowner - Coburg
Local Coburg residents Emma, Bruce, Yas and Annie, bought their Coburg house two and a half years ago. Since then they have reduced their carbon emissions, cut their electricity, gas and water costs and made their home more comfortable too.
The first thing Emma and Bruce did was switch their electricity over to GreenPower. Next they changed all the light globes to energy efficient ones, put in a water saving showerhead and installed ceiling insulation to an R-value of 3.5. They immediately went from three doonas to two on a cold winter night.
To reduce the need for greenhouse intensive, costly heating during winter, Emma used about 40 tubs of sealant along with weather stripping to seal up all the cracks and gaps in the house, installed a Draft Stoppa to cover their exhaust fans, and made thick curtains and blinds for all their windows. They also insulated under their floorboards with reflective concertina foil.
Coburg North resident Vladimir TIttl has taken many steps in the past few years to increase the thermal comfort of his home while reducing his gas heating bills at the same time.
In 2007, Vladimir signed up to MEFLs Take Action program where he received batts insulation, draught sealing for gaps and cracks around doors and windows, and external shading for his windows. On top of this, Vladimir took extra steps by installing extra draught sealing, using the ducted floor vents in summer to bring cooler air from the underfloor area up, and installing a fan in his roof to bring down the temperature of the roof space in summer as well as create a breeze. For heating during this last winter, he has been using the gas space heater in the living room rather than the old central heating system. This along with the insulation and draught sealing has resulted in a significant drop in his gas bill.
Moreland Solar City project is part of the Australian Government's Solar Cities initiative, led by the Moreland Energy Foundation, in partnership with Moreland City Council, the Brotherhood of St Laurence and Sustainability Victoria.
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