Allan switches to electric to help the environment and save money

The challenge:

“The key motivation for switching away from gas was the environmental impacts of gas and to reduce fossil fuel usage.

“The cost of gas was also going up which was a concern for our family. We are usually away during winter, but we still pay the connection fee for having gas which is expensive. Within one year of staying in our house we were shocked at the cost for using gas.

“Although our gas appliances weren’t too old (about 10 years), we could foresee a potential decline in the efficiency over the coming years, which would mean even more costs.

“To begin with, we wanted to replace our gas space heating system with an electric split system and the gas water heater with a hot water heat pump.

“We heard about the Sustainable Household Scheme earlier this year and realised it was a good opportunity to target these replacements with not a lot of initial investment.

The action:

“We searched for suitable contractors on the SHS website and got quotes from three vendors.

“After we selected our installer, the process was straight forward. Once the appliances were in, it took only a short time to learn to operate them. The transition was indeed smooth.

“There wasn’t a lot of work required to replace the systems besides upgrading the ducts for the air conditioning unit. I was not happy with the initial ducting system, so this upgrade was really a good thing.

The benefit:

“There was a lot of visible benefits in terms of comfort. While we usually had to operate our old system at a high fan setting on heat mode, the new air-conditioning system operates on the low-fan setting and uses zone-controlled heating. This meant heating across the house was less wasteful as unoccupied areas are not heated.

“We could instantly see the benefit from the hot water heat pump. The old gas heater took ages before we would get hot water and it would cool down very quickly if turned off for a short time such as when I was shaving followed by a shower.

“The hot water heat pump provides us with very hot water and is much more comfortable to adjust.

“As the systems were only installed in April 2022, we haven’t been able to compare our previous bill with our most recent, especially as we’ve been travelling all winter.

“Our electricity bills have increased, which was expected as part of the process to move towards an all-electric home. I will look at creating some spreadsheets in the coming months to understand the savings.

“Overall, the experience applying for a loan through SHS was very smooth and easy. From identifying vendors to the final installation of the products.

“Our house is relatively new, so we didn’t face any issues for installing the new products.

“We are looking at going all-electric soon. The last appliance to replace is the gas cook top and then we can abolish our gas connection.

“Maybe in the next 12-18 months we would consider other upgrades such as increasing our solar capacity, having a battery installed at home and ultimately an electric vehicle for the house.