Cooler weather ahead - time to pop on a jumper
Everyone knows that the cost of energy to households and businesses is one of the issues that most Australians are concerned about. Some people want to talk about little else and we all just want our bills to stop going up and start coming down. The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) has spent a… Read More
Everyone in the electricity industry is feeling the heat
If you’ve been anywhere near the news over the past week or so, you will have seen headlines like: “Consumers let down badly by electricity market” (The Conversation), “The ACCC says your energy bills are too high” (ABC online), “Power rip-offs: ACCC lines up energy giants” (The Australian), and “ACCC accuses energy companies of gouging… Read More
14 fascinating facts about the history of electricity in Australia
These days, we pretty much take electricity for granted. Mind you, we also take mobile phones for granted, even though there are plenty of people who can clearly remember life before those new-fangled contraptions. Of course, there’s no-one around who can remember what it was like before electricity, when people used hot coals to heat… Read More
Do you know your home’s energy star rating – and whether it’s accurate?
When we buy whitegoods and other appliances, checking the energy star rating is just part of the process. We’ve long accepted that the more stars a product has, the more energy efficient it is, meaning we’ll save on energy bills and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. According to the Department of Environment and Energy, Energy Rating… Read More
Everything you need to know about smart devices and the Internet of Things
In the mid-80s, some primitive tech gurus came up with the idea of automating things around your home. We say primitive, because home automation has come a very long way since those days, when you essentially needed a dedicated server in your house and lots of wiring, not to mention a skilled technician to do… Read More
Should the government make solar compulsory for new homes?
We’ve often discussed the fact that Australia leads the world in the uptake of rooftop solar, and that shows no signs of slowing down. However, California has just taken the lead in a different way. California state legislators have unanimously approved a ground-breaking plan that will require most new homes built in the state from… Read More