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With the air conditioner or heater, gaming consoles and kitchen appliances running at full throttle during the school holidays, it’s easy to see how your household demand for electricity can skyrocket at this time. 

With some forward planning and creative thinking, you could turn these energy saving tips into improved home energy efficiency – and even make some fun memories along the way! 

 

Be prepared for a higher demand for electricity

School holidays can create a spike in your energy consumption which could lead to a higher electricity bill than you were expecting. The best way to avoid this is to plan ahead and explore how you could save electricity in advance.

Call a family meeting and work out how you could take action together to be more energy efficient. If you have advanced metering infrastructure (known as ‘AMI’), you can use MyAccount to see exactly how much electricity you used each day, broken down into 30-minute intervals. Using MyAccount data like this is a great way to show your family how their behaviours translate into electricity consumption. It also means that when you make some changes to your home energy efficiency, you can see the impact on your usage during each interval the next day.

 

Put your kids in charge

Promote your children to the role of energy leaders and ask them to point out when or where you might be wasting electricity. Go through each room of your house and discuss ways you could save energy. Ask your kids to create a set of rules for the family to follow. 

Some key numbers affect how energy efficient your house is – and you could assign your kids the job of keeping those numbers in check.  For example, having your fridge set at four or five degrees Celsius and your freezer between minus 15 and 18 degrees, which you can measure using a fridge thermometer, are the most energy efficient settings.

With your heating and cooling, it’s best to have your thermostat set no lower than 24 degrees in summer– every degree lower in summer can add 10 percent to your heating bill. 24C might sound warm but not when compared to sweltering conditions outside on a hot day.

 

Share a science lesson

School might be out but learning opportunities are everywhere. Your children probably learn how to save electricity at school – and they might have energy efficient tips of their own to share. 

You can also explore the energy sources which power your home appliances. Do they understand the difference between renewable and finite resources? Where does the gas for your cooktop come from? How does it get to your home? You could research the answers together.

 

Head out for free events

Take a day trip or head out for some free events near you. Check your local council’s website or local paper for details of what’s on near you, as this means you could save electricity by using your appliances at home less during the day.

If you’re heading out at night, try to switch as many appliances off as you can to save electricity being used when appliances are on standby. 

An added benefit of going out in the evening and using less electricity at home is that you’ll be using less power at times of peak demand in the grid. This means you could be helping to keep the WA electricity grid stable for everyone.

 

Enjoy a picnic or barbeque

School holidays often means more trips to the fridge and using your toaster/kettle/mixer and microwave more than usual. If the weather is nice, think about taking any one of your meals – breakfast, lunch or dinner – outside. You can pack a picnic, get your barbeque going at your place or even find one that’s free to use in a park or location near you.

For those colder nights or nights where you’d rather eat at home, you could choose one night of the week to have a ‘no cook’ dinner. Get creative and think of a meal you could make together that requires minimal use of energy-hungry kitchen appliances. For example, sandwiches, wraps and salads can often be made with no cooking necessary.

 

Embrace nature

If you have solar panels, get your family on board to make the most of the solar power your panels provide while the sun is shining. 

In summer, consider washing those sandy beach towels as soon as you get home from your morning at the beach, rather than leaving the load until after dark. Learn how to be a solar super user and get your household involved.

Planting trees can be a fun activity to plan as a family – and as the trees grow they could provide your home with shade and offer a cooler indoor temperature. The shade from a tree might mean you use your air conditioner less, which could help to reduce your home's energy use. 

 

Dance or digital detox

Pull the blinds down, grab some torches and turn off everything except your speakers – and have a dance party. The longer you dance, the more energy you’ll save and the more energy your kids will be using up. 

You could also ditch the devices, switch off the TV and gaming consoles and bring back some retro fun with garden games like totem tennis in summer or your favourite board games in winter. It’s a good chance to share with your kids what things were like growing up in the 70s/80s/90s – and an easy way to reduce your energy use!

For even more simple ideas on how to save energy around your home, consider trying some of these energy saving tips