Half not aware of hot water subsidies

Australian
Friday 3/9/2010 Page: 6

FEWER than one in two Australians are aware of the substantial state and federal government subsidies available to install energy saving hot water products, according to a new survey. The Newspoll survey sponsored by Solahart, the West Australian-based maker of solar water heaters, identified a growing sense of alarm in the community about rising energy costs, but few people are aware of effective ways to cut their bills.

The survey of 676 home owners found only half were aware of the federal government's $1000 rebate to install solar hot water, while only a third were aware of other incentives. Similarly, only half had heard of Renewable Energy Certificates. Solahart's national manager, Stephen Cranch, told The Australian that constant policy change by government was adding to confusion. "What makes it very, very difficult is the on again, off again policy changes", he said.

The survey found that 94% of households were concerned about hikes in energy prices, with almost 60% saying they were very concerned. Electricity prices have risen by about 35% over the past three years. In recent interviews with The Australian, federal Energy Minister Martin Ferguson and his opposition counterpart, Ian McFarlane, have predicted a doubling in the next five to seven years.

The survey found that the vast majority of people wanted to reduce their energy bills, but they were taking only limited action to do so. The most common response was installing energy-saving light globes (89%), purchasing energy-efficient appliances (72%) and turning off appliances at the power point when they were not in use (64%).

But such actions are likely to achieve only minimal savings. The big-ticket item is electric hot water. About half Australia's eight million households use electricity to heat their hot water, which is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. In these households, hot water accounts for 25% of energy consumption, so switching to renewable energy can cut power bills dramatically.