30 simple ways to beat the carbon tax

This Sunday , the Carbon Tax will be in force,I pray to the god’s that we survive. To those that make it through, I found some tips,which may help.

Tanya Ha ABC Environment 26 Jun 2012

The price on carbon begins on Sunday. While only the top carbon-emitting companies and organisations are affected by the $23 price tag on each tonne of carbon emitted, the cost will filter down to all of us through our electricity bills. At the same time electricity prices are set to increase due to increased infrastructure costs. Householders around Australia are bracing themselves for a double hit to the hip pocket.

Treasury estimates for the average Australian household electricity will rise by $3.30 per week, gas by $1.50, and food by 80 cents under the carbon price. A summary of Treasury modelling for household expenditure is here.

To help those least able to cope with the energy price increases from the carbon tax, the government will provide a compensation and assistance package. This means clever Australians who find a way to cut their energy bills can pocket the compensation.

Here's our list of 30 easy ways to cut your energy bills and keep your compo cash for more enjoyable activities.

Appliances

1. Turn off the beer fridge during the week or between parties.
2. Dry clothes on an airing rack or on the clothes line, rather than using a tumble dryer.
3. Clean the lint filter in washing machines, dryers, and heating and cooling equipment.
4. Use a rake instead of an electric leaf blower, or a broom instead of a vacuum on sealed floors.
5. Keep your fridge operating efficiently by keeping the door seals clean (replace them if they've deteriorated) and defrost the freezer if necessary.
6. Buy efficient whitegoods when the time comes to replace them. The Energy Rating website has a useful search tool that estimates running costs. For example, one 4-star family fridge costs $72 per year to run, paying 25 cents per kilowatt-hour for electricity, while a similar sized 1.5-star machine costs $135 per year to run.
7. If you have them, limit the use of heated towel rails to a couple of hours per day, instead of the full 24.

Cooking

8. Put lids on saucepans to reduce the heat that escapes.
9. Cut your vegies into smaller pieces so that they cook faster.
10. Boil the kettle with only as much water as you need. Heating water takes a lot of energy.
11. Where possible, use a microwave instead of a conventional oven.

Gadgets

12. Turn off the television and other entertainment devices manually, instead of leaving them on standby. Master/slave powerboards can make this easier (despite dodgy-sounding name): when you turn off the 'master' (usually the TV), the 'slave' devices are automatically turned off.
13. Battery chargers can use standby power even when not plugged into the device they charge. Turn them off at the wall. This includes mobile phone, power tool and battery rechargers.

Lighting

14. So you've swapped your old incandescent bulbs for more efficient lights? Now, it's time to replace energy-hungry halogen downlights. Mains voltage (GU10 base fitting) 50 Watt halogens can be replaced with 11-watt compact fluorescent 'micro' downlights. Low-voltage (MR16 base) 50-watt halogens can be replaced with 20 Watt infrared coated (IRC) halogens or three Watt LED downlights. Note that 'low voltage' does not mean 'low energy'.
15. Match your lighting levels to the needs of the activity you're doing. For example, you don't need every light on while watching TV.
16. Combined light, heat lamp and fan fittings for bathrooms are compact and useful, but each heat lamp typically uses a massive 275 watts. Don't flick on the heat switch when light is all you need.

Keeping warm

17. Dress for the season. Winter is the time for woollies, rather than wearing summer clothes and setting the heater thermostat to tropical.
18. Similarly, suit your bedding to the season and use extra blankets (including underlay) rather than electric blankets or running a heater overnight.
19. Don't scoff at a nana-rug to cover your knees while you're watching telly. Thousands of nanas can't be wrong.
20. Cover windows with thick, well-fitting curtains.
21. Put weatherstripping on external doors or use a door snake.
22. Target heating to the rooms or zones in use, not the entire house.
23. Set your thermostat to a reasonable temperature of 18 to 20ºC in winter. Each degree hotter can increase your energy bill by about 10 per cent.

Hot water

24. The shorter your shower, the less energy you spend heating up water.

25. Install a water-saving showerhead; it's an easy DIY job. Many water retailers have free showerhead replacement programs.
26. Consider insulated coverings for hot water systems and pipes.

Staying cool

27. When the weather heats up again, remember it is easier to prevent your house becoming hot than it is to cool an already hot house. Make sure your home has adequate exterior shade, such as awnings, blinds, sails, shade cloth, shade trees or verandas.
28. Install flyscreens to make it easier to ventilate your home.
29. For active cooling, fans use the least energy, followed by evaporative coolers (which suit dry climates). Air conditioners are the most expensive to run.
30. Fans work by moving air over your skin. If you're not in the room, the fan is doing nothing. Switch it off.

Finally, remember that every product you see in the shops has needed energy, water and material resources to be produced and has a carbon cost. We can cut our eco-footprints, save money and avoid some of the carbon tax by simply buying and wasting less stuff.

“Good luck everyone and may God have mercy on our souls.”