Myths of peak energy use

Adelaide Advertiser
Monday 11/5/2009 Page: 55

IT seems very common with people I am talking to on a daily basis that a shared assumption is that we use more energy in summer. I think this often comes about from the number of blackouts we have during summer due to huge quantities of air conditioners creating such a large demand at any one time.

This obviously occurs on those stinking hot days because the only way we can all cool our homes and workplaces is with electric energy and air conditioners. In actual fact almost every home will consume more energy throughout winter than summer in our climate. In winter our consumption is greater because we have less daylight, therefore we use electricity to light our homes. We spend more time indoors bringing greater demand on our appliances and many of us use my pet hate, the clothes dryer.

I believe we need to look at ways we can reduce our consumption to guard against the future costs of living. As we head into winter it is important to create living spaces that are well zoned within your home. If we are heating, we want to ensure we are heating the parts of the home where we are spending all our time and not the entire house unnecessarily.

Solar energy is the way of the future. With rebates at $8000 and additional renewable energy certificates provided with each system purchased, now is the time to get on board. A good sized solar system can actually make you money with the current feed-in tariffs, something I have found in my own home.

Adam Wright is a director of Beyond Today.