Posts Tagged ‘electricity savings’

How much you save on electricity depends on the amount of hot water you use and how efficient your solar hot water system produces hot water.

According to the Department of Environment and Water Resources, it is between $300 – $700 each year that you save on electricity. On a monthly basis that is $25 – $58.

To get a more accurate estimate for your personal situation, have a look at your electricity bill. There are usually two types of tariffs. Most of your electricity is charged on Tariff 11.

The other tariff is the off-peak or night tariff. Check on your bill for Tariff 31 or Tariff 33.

Usually you only have one of those on your electricity bill. Many electrical hot water systems are connected to it. (Please note: Other appliances that do not need continuous energy might also be on that tariff, e.g if you have a pool, the pool pump.)

The total for Tariff 31 or Tariff 33 gives you a good indication of how much you have spent for your hot water in the past.

Depending on where you live, your solar hot water system contributes most of your hot water needs for free. Here is what some of the state governments have researched:

• Queensland: 80%
• NSW: 65-80%
• Victoria: up to 75%
• South Australia: 60-70%
• Perth: 65-85%

And the rest? Every solar hot water system has a booster (either electric or gas) that is used to provide hot water when there are too many cloudy days.

Also consider the rising electricity prices (17% in the last two years). These make it even more useful to save on electricity.

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The $12,000 is an estimate using the current information we have collected from government sites. This is not a promise and might not apply in your particular circumstances.

How did we calculate that?

The yearly electricity savings are between $300 and $700 (Source: Department of Environment).

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates the life of a solar hot water system to be between 15 and 20 years.

So in an ideal scenario, you could save $700 per year x 20 years, which is $14,000.

You can install a solar hot water system from $1,800 (after rebates and depending on your location and needs).

Deducting the roughly $2,000 off the $14,000 leaves a potential profit of $12,000.

How else could you calculate it?

As you can see this calculation is the ideal scenario. Assuming that only $300 are saved per year and the system lasts 15 years, the total savings would be $4,500. There are systems that might cost around $4,000 fully installed (again after rebates).

So this scenario is not as profitable.

What we have not considered is the rising electricity prices.

Thinking further

However, even in this most negative scenario, you are still better off getting a solar hot water system than not doing anything – just financially.

Taking the environmental impacts into account: 3,000 kg of CO2 saved each year (25% of household greenhouse gas emissions) makes it an excellent proposition.

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