You’ve packed up the car, caravan or suitcases and are ready to go—but is your home?
Get on the road with confidence with these simple holiday energy-saving tips.
A powerful checklist.
We all know the feeling: ‘Did I lock the back door?’ and ‘I closed the garage, right?’. The answer is probably yes, but add some peace of mind to your getaway by using a checklist before you leave the house. Checking your air conditioner, oven and TV might be obvious, but some others might not be. Here are some things to add to your list.
Switch off:
- heated towel racks
- home office equipment
- gaming consoles
- pool heaters (and consider putting your pool pump on a timer, rather than running all the time).
Don’t forget to:
- close and lock all external windows and doors
- hide or lock away valuable items
- arrange a friend or neighbour to put your bins out on bin day and check for important mail or deliveries.
Press pause.
Your upcoming holiday is a time to switch off—your mind and your devices. Standby energy usage, the energy used when a device is turned off but still plugged in to the wall, can account for 10% of your electricity bill*—even if they don’t look like they’re using any energy. For example, when your phone charger is plugged in to the wall, it continues to use power—whether your phone is connected or not.
Take a walk through your home and look for:
- any device or appliance that has an ‘always on’ display (like a light or a clock)
- devices that are voice activated, constantly connected to the internet or feature an ‘instant on’ capability (computers, TVs and gaming consoles)
- phone, laptop or smart watch chargers that are still plugged in to the wall.
Hot tip: If you need your set-top box or media player to record your favourite TV shows while you’re away, leave this one plugged in to avoid any disappointment!
Forget the schedule.
Do you have an app or virtual assistant that manages your household appliances? Maybe you schedule your lights to come on at a certain time, or you have your air conditioner set to turn on once it gets above a certain temperature. Throughout your regular routine, these devices can add convenience to your day and even help you to better control your energy use. It’s easy to set and forget these devices, so make sure you’ve turned them off before you go.
If you have an automated irrigation system set up in your garden, do a quick check of the weather for the period you plan to be away. If there’s plenty of rain in the forecast, consider switching them off as well.
Cartoons for company.
If you’re leaving your furry friends at home, you may be tempted to leave the TV or radio on to keep them company. As much as we like to imagine our pets as part of the family, the truth is: they don’t listen or interact with human entertainment the same way that we do. Studies have found that cats and dogs communicate at different frequencies to humans, so the chatter of the radio is likely to be of a different pitch and tempo than our pets would enjoy.
So, save the energy and switch off the TV, and don’t forget to arrange pet boarding or a pet sitter to make sure your pets are fed, watered and thriving.
Chill out.
It sounds counter-intuitive, but fill up your fridge before you go. Fridges are actually at their energy-efficient-best when they have something in them—the chilled food and drinks actually help to keep the fridge cold (like an ice pack in your lunchbox)^, but still allows enough room to keep air circulating.
This doesn’t mean that you should go out and buy food just for the fridge (wasted food will cost more than any energy savings), but take a look in your pantry for items you can put in the fridge, including cordial, liquid stock, drinks, sauces or nuts (and maybe some aloe vera for if you catch a little too much sun while you’re away).
Better yet, if you have an extra fridge that you use during the holiday season, switch it off and put all the drinks in your main fridge. An extra fridge or freezer can cost up to $200 every year in running costs#, so it’s worth saving yourself the energy when you can.
If you have an outdated fridge or freezer that you’re ready to part ways with, we’ll pick it up for free, make sure it’s responsibly recycled and even give you a $30 credit** on your next energy bill.
Whether you’re chilling out or keeping the chill out, learn how to take charge of your energy usage in every season.
Power down over summer. Warm up to winter.
Take a break with peace of mind that your energy is sorted. Check our latest plans to make sure you’re on the best plan for you.
References
**Terms and conditions apply. View the Fridge Buyback terms and conditions.
