Energy Efficiency

Air-Conditioner Energy Optimisation

Air-Conditioning Solutions – Noosa & Surrounding Suburbs

On the Sunshine Coast, Air-Conditioners are the most popular solution to keep living and working conditions bearable, especially during the summer heat. In this exciting article, we take a look at how to optimise AC usage to make sure we’re getting the most chill for the lowest cost and energy usage. If you’re interested in an air-conditioner solution for your home or business, don’t hesitate to contact our team – we’re experienced with all aspects of air-conditioning and service Noosa and surrounding suburbs on the Sunshine Coast.

Reducing Air-Conditioning Running Costs with Solar

Using solar power to run your air-conditioner is a long-term solution that can help to reduce costs in the long-term. Over time, a key benefits is being able to run your appliances during the day without paying for power from the grid. Meanwhile, if you already have solar, it’s important to maximise solar power usage for your AC (as opposed to power from the grid). An example might be cooling down your rooms before the evening comes – instead of waiting until it’s dark, when you will need to use power from the grid.

Using Optimal AC Modes

AC units have a wide variety of modes and on a hot day it can be tempting to hit ‘Siberia’. However, launching into the coldest and most powerful mode is not the most efficient way to use your air-conditioner. Economy modes optimise the way the air-conditioner works to get a great result without redlining power usage. For example, Daikin’s Econo Mode [SRC: Daikin ] prevents excessive cooling and only uses 70% of the appliance’s capacity. This achieves cooling without wasting electricity.

Awareness of Modern Features

If you’re looking to purchase an air-conditioner, it’s important to come at it from an energy-efficiency point of view. Pay attention to your prospective machine’s features. For example, some Daikin split systems come with ‘Intelligent Eye’, which monitors whether a room is being used, and adjusts the AC delivery to suit usage.

Awareness of Ratings

For new air-conditioners, pay attention to energy rating labels. These give an indication of both energy efficiency and energy consumption, helping you to appreciate how a specific appliance compares to its peers.

Daikin Split Systems – a Popular Solution

Use the Right Air-Conditioner

While there are many different types of air-conditioners, some are more energy-efficient than others, depending on the type of premises you are cooling. For cooling bedrooms and larger rooms, small, portable air-conditioning solutions are generally the least energy efficient appliances. Split systems are the recommended solution in most cases, since they are more energy efficient, and can achieve and sustain comparable cooling without requiring as much power. However, they do cost more upfront and they’re not portable.

Optimising Usage

An important step towards optimising your air-conditioning is to only cool the required rooms, and for these rooms to be sealed from the outside. If you’re cooling the entire house, and all of the doors and windows are open, you might as well just throw your wallet out the window – which won’t be a problem, since the window is already open. Using air-conditioners minimally and within sealed rooms is effective an effective way to cool the home that won’t require the AC to use its full power.

In Conclusion

Like any appliance, air-conditioners can and should be optimised. With AC, this process starts right at the beginning – selecting an appropriate system for your home – and then operating the system in an efficient manner. If you’d like to know more about AC on the Sunshine Coast, contact our team – we are here to assist.

Learn More About AC Solutions

If you’re interested in learning more about air-conditioner solutions or getting a quote, please contact our team. We service Noosa and surrounding suburbs.

Make an Air-Conditioning Enquiry

Avoid this Obvious Solar Mistake

Solar power provides homeowners with a fabulous source of electrical energy. Nowhere is this truer than on the Sunshine Coast, where we enjoy beautiful sunny conditions for most of the year along with a fantastic natural environment.

This article discusses optimising your solar solution – in particular, ensuring your high-use appliances are using solar energy and not power from the grid. If you’re making this mistake, don’t worry – you’re not alone. Let’s check it out.

Not Maximising Your Usage of Solar Production

One of the primary goals of solar installations is to ensure that you are making the most of your solar power. For solar systems (with no battery), that means using power as much as possible during the day – when the sun is shining.

We install a range of solar battery solutions, including Enphase

To maximise the benefit of your solar system, it is important to adjust your energy consumption where possible to ensure that you are using the energy you produce, rather than purchasing from your energy retailer.

Examples:

Run swimming pools between the house of 10am-3pm
Use household appliances (dishwashers, washing machines, clothes dryers if you must) during the day where possible

One of the largest users of power in the home is the hot water system – electric hot water systems account for approximately a quarter of your electricity bill. [SRC: energyrating.gov.au ]

To make the most of your solar, it’s essential to make sure your hot water system is heating during the day, and using solar power. If it’s heating at night, it will not be using your solar energy (unless you have a battery) and will be drawing power from the grid, causing unnecessary costs.

Part of our service is to optimise electrical configurations.. while this might sound obvious to you, but we have seen quite a few homes where this problem is happening. If you’re going to the effort of collecting solar energy, it only makes sense to maximise it!

The Solution – Install a Timer

The solution is to install a timer on your hot water system that will ensure it only operates during peak solar collection times (during the middle of the day). Having a solar system in place is a significant step, but it’s only one part of the solution. The other part is optimising your home to make the most of solar power.

Get Assistance

If you don’t know when your hot water system is heating or need help organising a timer for your hot water system, or would like further information about optimising your home or business, please contact our team.

Learn More About Solar Solutions

If you’re interested in learning more about solar solutions or getting a quote, please contact our team. We service Noosa and surrounding suburbs.

Discuss a Solar Solution for Your Home or Business

Electricity Saving Tips for Winter

Energy is getting expensive. If you haven’t done so already, now is a great time to become familiar with how energy is used in your home, and look at the options you have to optimise your usage – and reduce your power bills.

1. Become Familiar with Your Power Usage

We all use power, but how well do you understand your own power usage? By becoming familiar with key terms and measures, you will be able to build a better picture of how your home is performing power-wise. Here are some key points:

a. Do you know what a Kilowatt-Hour (kWh) is?. This is the measurement used to calculate your electricity usage. A kilowatt hour is 1,000 watts used for one hour.
b. Understand your average annual kWh. Compare it to the Average in QLD for a home with the same number of people living in it. The annual average for QLD is 5535 KwH (SRC: https://www.finder.com.au/how-much-energy-does-the-average-home-use), but the amount varies depending on the area and the number of people. A great option to understand how you stack up is to do the quick test at energymadeeasy.gov.au where you can learn how you perform compared to other similar-sized homes in your local area.
d. Understand how this breaks down monthly.
e. Understand how the different seasons affect your energy use.
f. Review your electricity bill and make sure you are familiar with what it means.

2. Optimise Your Energy Company

Energy companies have different deals. Depending on your needs, using the right company and the right deal can make a big difference.

a. Checkout competitors for best deals
b. Review https://www.canstarblue.com.au/electricity/cheapest-electricity-prices-qld/ for ideas and comparisons
c. Make sure you’re aware of energy discounts which may be available from time to time for items such as: paying your bill on time; paying by direct debit; receiving invoices by email; signing up online; award point programs
d. Be aware of fixed vs variable rates on energy deals

3. On-Peak & Off-Peak

Understanding the difference between on-peak and off-peak is critical to optimise your electrical bill. On-Peak means times during the day when more people use electricity. Off-Peak are times of less electrical usage. Depending on your plan, during on-peak times electricity can be more expensive, and during off-peak times, electricity can be cheaper.

4. Understand Energy Tariffs

Energy tariffs are different ways that electricity usage can be billed. Depending on your needs, using the right tariff can make a big difference to your power bill. The following are examples of tariffs in use in Australia:

a. Single Rate: You pay the same rate at all times of the day.
b. Time of Use: Time of Use tariffs charge electricity at different prices through different times of the day. This can make it cheaper for you to use power at certain times.
c. Controlled Load: When certain devices or appliances (usually, high-energy ones) are metered separately.
d. Demand: With a Demand Tariff, billing is based on how much load you put on the network during peak electrical times.

5. Solar Energy Solutions

Enphase Microinverter for AC Solar Solutions

By generating your own solar energy, you can eliminate, or minimise, the need for your power to be linked to an electricity provider giving greater control over your electricity usage and saving money in the long-term.

a. Solar plus an electric vehicle saves money on power and fuel
b. Optimise your solar use for different times of the day.

“Using their cheap solar electricity in the middle of the day when it’s being generated is one of the ways that you get the best bang for buck out of having solar panels on your roof.”
Chris Barnes, Choice (SRC: https://bit.ly/3Pl1WUe)

c. Monitor your feed-in tariff (FiT) – what you can earn back on your power bill when your solar system generates more energy than your household uses
d. Manage your solar power using smart software
e. Store power with a battery, to increase your energy independence

Learn More About Energy Management

If you’re interested in learning more about energy management solutions or getting a quote, please contact our team. We service Noosa and surrounding suburbs.

Discuss a Battery Solution for Your Home or Business

Energy Habits

Whether it’s the heat of summer, the middle of winter or any other time of year, one of the easiest and best ways to save energy is to change our energy habits. There are many small but significant changes you can make to save energy – let’s check them out in this article.

Is There Another Way?

Chris Barnes from Choice [SRC: https://bit.ly/3Pl1WUe] says the cheapest heater “is the one you don’t run in the first place”. In other words, replacing an energy-based solution with a low-tech option is one way to cut costs. For example, rugging up rather than turning on a heater.

Powering Down

A major and obvious first step is to ensure that energy that isn’t needed isn’t being used. Making the effort to turn off lights, electronics, and appliances when they are not in use can yield significant energy savings over time. Additionally, utilizing natural light whenever possible by opening curtains or blinds during the day reduces reliance on artificial lighting, further lowering electricity consumption.

Standing Down

Reducing standby power consumption by unplugging electronics can also make a considerable difference. Many devices continue to draw power even when turned off, contributing to unnecessary energy waste. By unplugging chargers, electronics, and appliances when not in use, individuals can minimise standby power consumption and trim their electricity bills.

Optimising Heating & Cooling

Using a more moderate approach to heating and cooling enables heating and cooling that is more energy efficient. For example, we set the thermostat of the air conditioning unit at our HQ to an efficient 24C in summer and 22C in winter. This moderate approach doesn’t use up as much energy as an approach that uses extremely high or low temperatures.

Daikin say:

When it comes to cooling in summer, increasing the temperature by 1 degree can also reduce your energy use by 5 to 10%. [SRC: Daikin]

Reduced energy use translates to savings on your electrical bill, so this is a handy tip to keep in mind as we swelter our way through summer.

Energy-Efficiency in the Kitchen

Furthermore, practicing energy-efficient cooking methods, such as using lids on pots and pans, matching cookware sizes to burner sizes, and utilizing microwave ovens or toaster ovens for smaller meals, can help conserve energy in the kitchen.

Purchase Quality Items

Appliances come in a wide variety of costs and capabilities. At the time of purchase a cheaper appliance may seem like a good idea, but the benefits of going with a quality brand will continue to serve you well for a much longer time. A key benefit is energy efficiency. Familiarise yourself with ratings systems, and check out the differences in energy efficiency in the available options.

[SRC: QLD Gov’t]