Capital City News Article 10

Would you like to know how you can reduce your household’s energy costs and save money on your energy bills? Do you want to do it yourself – so you really understand how your home uses energy? Would you like some cost effective suggestions on what you can do to reduce your energy use? Well now you can! All you need to do is borrow, free of charge, a Home Energy Audit Toolkit. The Home Energy Audit Toolkits (HEAT) have been developed through the Southern Tasmania Council’s Authority’s Regional Climate Change Initiative (RCCI) by the Hobart City Council. The Hobart City Council has 4 kits available for borrowing and at least one toolkit will be available from Brighton, Central Highlands, Clarence, Derwent Valley, Glamorgan Spring Bay, Hobart, Huon Valley, Kingborough, Sorrell, Southern Midlands and Tasman Councils in Southern Tasmania as well as Launceston City Council, Sustainable Living Tasmania, the Snug Primary School and the Kettering Cricket Club. HEAT allows households to undertake home energy audits in their own time and space and provides practical and affordable suggestions on how to save energy and dollars on energy bills. HEAT Information sheets have been specially developed for Tasmanian households and conditions and compliments other home energy audit services and programs. HEAT will allow households to gain a deeper understanding of how their homes use energy that can lead to lasting behaviour change and real savings! Each HEAT contains:

 Power-Mate Enables measurement of electricity consumption of all electrical appliances with a standard 3-pin plug. Useful for measuring the electricity consumption of appliances such as fridges; televisions, microwaves and computers and their standby consumption.  Infrared radiometer Used to check for leaks around fridge doors as well as checking for adequate ventilation behind the fridge/freezer and the effectiveness of ceiling insulation.  Stopwatch Assists in determining flow rate of hot water from showers & taps.  Silva compass Assists in identifying: (i) the homes orientation for solar aspect considerations and (ii) suitably orientation of roof aspect for hot water and electricity solar panels.  Thermometer with Enables measurement of air temperature around houses, magnet hot water system, fridges and freezers.  Laminated instruction Developed specifically for Tasmanian households they and information sheets provide instructions on how to use the tools included in x 12 the kit and suggestions for doable energy efficient actions for various appliances and/or activities.