Manage your consumption

Achieve your energy goals

Unlike other energy suppliers, we are keen to work with you to help manage this precious resource, reduce costs and reduce our impact on the environment.

Here is some practical advice and information we’ve put together that should go a long way to achieving these goals.

HotSource™
- your 'Secret Weapon'

One of the benefits of having Source as your electricity provider is that with our advanced metering system we can give you access to real-time information regarding your own energy consumption.

Don’t wait until you get your bill to find out how much energy you have been using. Jump onto your dashboard at your HotSource™ account and see what you are using, including your energy usage history. It’s all there and is a really powerful tool to help you understand and manage your energy consumption and costs.

If you are having any trouble accessing your account or want some help navigating through your dashboard please get in contact with us and we will help you.

Compare it

Once you have a handle on how much and when you are consuming energy most, the next stage is working out where it is going and put it into context with some averages.

The average household consumes around 25 units of energy each day. Due to the efficient nature of our customers and the buildings we operate in, the average Source customer runs at about 10 units per day. While there is a big variance it is good to know where you sit.

Pat yourself on the back if you are under 10 (but know that there are many people under 5). Read on for some energy saving tips, if you are over the average.

A unit is a measure of energy and equates to one kWhr or is the equivalent of having a 1000W load on for one hour. When your gas retailer provides you with a bill, a unit of gas is equal to 1kWhr of 3.6M

If you have moved from a home that had both gas and
electricity to a home that has just electrical appliances, then
to compare the two you need to add the units of gas and
electricity together from your previous bill to get your total
previous consumption for an accurate comparison.

To give you a feel of where this energy goes we have put
together this rough estimate of what an “average” dwelling
looks like.

However these are just averages…

Keep in mind that these are only averages and while it is handy to help identify what the big ticket items might be, every apartment runs differently. These are just a few factors to consider;

Occupancy

The more people you have in your household, the more energy you are going to consume, unless they are energy conscious and following our tips.

Season

Through the peak of summer we find that consumption jumps considerably with the extra load placed on the air conditioner. In the middle of winter it may also jump with the extra demand on hot showers, heater usage, additional lighting and generally people staying indoors a bit more. During the spring and autumn periods in Perth, you should see your usage dropping. Use HotSource™ to see how your usage is fluctuating on a seasonable basis – it’s an interesting exercise.

Heating & Cooling

You may use your reverse cycle air conditioning system for both heating and cooling. These systems are big energy users and typically draw 1-2kW when running. So if your AC was running for 8 hours that could be as much as 8-16kwhr.

Modern air conditioners control their power draw once your room hits a set temperature point. So asking your AC to achieve a cool temperature in summer of 20°C will cost a lot more than if you set it at 23°C. On a hot day that extra 3°C could be costing as much as 8kWhr to get the room down to 20°C and even more to hold it there. The same logic applies to heating your home in winter.

Hot Water Service

This catches many people out. If you had gas hot water previously and have moved into an apartment with an electric hot water unit you will notice a jump in your electricity bill. But of course you won’t be receiving as large a gas bill, or no gas bill if you only have electric cooking.

Depending on the type of electric hot water service you have, you will notice some interesting results in your dashboard. An instantaneous electric hot water system will use a lot of electricity but only whilst you are using the hot water. The system can draw as much as 10kW while you are having shower.

So a 30 minute shower can add 5kWhr or 5units to your bill.

Solar

You may have your own solar PV system connected directly to your home. You will be able to see this on your bill and your dashboard and if used well you can substantially reduce your consumption.

If you don’t have your own solar you still may be benefiting from the projects central solar system that is helping reduce your energy tariff and environmental footprint.

The ‘Other’

Once you have you gone through the obvious culprits and think there is something else going on, here are some things to look for; bar and oil heaters, big plasma TV’s, heated towel rails, aquarium heaters and hydroponics.

Have a look at your appliances, they should have a sticker that provides the energy usage and how much power they are consuming when on.

For instance a kettle may draw 2,400W when on and a laptop might 50W. You then have to have a think about how long it runs for. For instance the kettle is only for a few minutes so while it runs hot it won’t add too much to your consumption, whereas the laptop could be on all day, that may add up.

Check your HotSource™ dashboard

Now that you are armed with a bit more knowledge, go back and check your dashboard. You will be amazed at how much you can deduce from it.

For instance in the middle of the night or when you aren’t home you’ll see your fridge humming along. Those big spikes in the morning and evening will be things like hot water use, air conditioning and some cooking.

You can experiment and play with turning your appliances off or on, and check your load profile to see what happens.

Helpful tips to reduce energy consumption

Start with the big items first as small changes with these will have the largest impact;

HOT WATER: Low flow shower heads, shorter showers, cold wash your clothes.

AIR CONDITIONING & HEATING: In summer try and maximise the cooler nights and natural breeze and in winter look for that woollen jumper before cranking the heater. Try and close doors and heat or cool only the rooms you are actually in rather than the whole home.

Contact Us

If you are still having trouble understanding where your energy is going please get in contact with us and we’ll do our best to help work it out with you.