Future proofing for electrification

Bo has made a plan to fully electrify his home.

Bo shares his 1920s home with his partner and two teenaged children. Motivated by concerns about climate change, and a commitment to reducing his family’s environmental footprint, Bo has made a plan to fully electrify his home.

The first step happened in 2007-8 when they added an extension to their home in 2007-8. Bo insulated the walls and ceilings in the new area, and installed reverse cycle air-conditioning.

1.5kW of solar panels currently offset all average summer daily power needs. But to provide for future demand, Bo and his family are planning to upgrade to a larger more efficient system.

Bo is a planner and a thinker, carefully researching each step for the costs, the savings and the way the outcome will deliver clean and green solutions for his family’s energy needs.

Here are Bo’s tips for a step by step process towards electrification:

First, understand your family’s energy budget.

‘Just like your household budget you can keep track across the seasons of your usage.’

Different providers offer different levels of detail, but knowing average daily consumption and how it varies in different seasons is a great start.

Second, ‘invest in the big-ticket items that might increase in cost over time, but will offer energy savings now.’ For Bo, this means putting 6kW of new solar panels on his roof first, which he estimates will pay back in 6.5 years. Bo is also taking advantage of this work to upgrade to 3-phase power.

The next steps will include purchase of an electric car and a battery for storage of excess power and charging of their EV. Replacing the solar boosted gas hot water system when it fails is a longer-term goal, and when finances allow, an induction cooktop.

Good step by step planning is ‘all about setting up to save and then accommodate the extra expenses when you can down the track.’ In this way Bo and his family are ‘future proofing our home for electrification.’

Find out more

Follow the six steps to an all-electric home.