Electricity
So I just got my bill. After the last bill I decided it was time to be a little less civilised and turn off the reverse cycle airconditioning. So I saved $100 to get my second highest bill ever.
I noticed after dissecting the bill that $75 won't go away as its a service bill and another section was GST. So actually if I switch the power off it would be $75 + another $7.50 GST = $82.50 in unavoidable costs.
Now I have been quite cold saving this $100 and the bill indicated I used more power this year than last year which is rather odd since I was using the heater last year and I had more people in the house.
I am looking to reduce this bill. Some people switch their hotwater service off and only reheat every third day. Does it pay off.
I am checking the off peak rates and thinking I will cook in the mornings and just reheat food at dinner time.
What about spending the $4000 and covering the roof with solar panels? Is it worth it? I already have solar hot water, lights are all energy efficient etc etc.
I did buy an induction hotplate. Are they expensive to cook with?
South Australia is set to overtake Denmark as the most expensive place for electricity bills in the world, according to an expert.
Electric cars.....
Eight-year-old Dorsen (pictured left being told off by a man, circled, and right, having a sack put on his shoulders), is one of 40,000 children working daily in the mines of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Here, for a wage of just 8p a day, he is made to check the rocks for the tell-tale chocolate-brown streaks of cobalt - the prized ingredient essential for the batteries that power electric cars. And it's feared that thousands more children could be about to be dragged into this hellish daily existence - after the historic pledge made by Britain to ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars from 2040 and switch to electric vehicles. Pictured inset is Monica, four, who also works in the mines.
She's the high profile host of Sunrise who reportedly earns an annual salary of $500,000. And Samantha Armytage has been made fun of by radio talk back host Alan Jones after protesting the cost of her electricity during a segment about low income earners and their savings on Wednesday. After the Sunrise host used the live TV segment as an opportunity to complain about her latest bill, Alan sarcastically quipped back: 'When you’re on low incomes like you and I Sam, these things are really stressful.'
Make sure you check your energy supplier's website because they all charge different hours for different times and not all states are the same times.
Energy Australia's Off-Peak times are 10 pm - 7.00 am.