In our workshops, we talk a little about discovering how much electricity your appliances and devices use, what that might be costing you and how to measure the electricity consumption in your house. Using devices like the Efergy E2, Powermate and a myriad of other devices it is relatively easy these days to ascertain which devices in your home are drawing the most electricity and when.

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Whilst the issue of and justifications for Smart Meters and their roll out across Victoria (aiming to be complete by 2013) is not completely an environmental or tenants one, we have been asked enough questions about it over the past few months that we deemed there be enough reason to write a special post about it. I met with the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) for a special briefing on Smart Meters, what they are and how they will affect Victorian residents, so here’s a round up of salient points in (hopefully) easy to understand language…

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Energy efficient light bulbs (otherwise known as compact fluorescent light bulbs or CFL’s ) contain a small amount of mercury which is a toxic metal and every product containing mercury should be handled with care.

Recycling is the best way to dispose of used CFLs.

In Victoria you should take them to your nearest Council Civic Centre for recycling. Or you can take fluorescent tubes to a Detox Your Home permanent drop-off facility,such as the  Darebin Resource Recovery Centre. It is free.

You can also take your fluorescent tubes to a Detox Your Home mobile collection.

NSW households should utilise the free household chemical “Cleanout” program managed by the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change. These are held regularly, and details are available on the www.cleanout.com.au website.

As a last resort, burnt-out or broken CFLs should be wrapped in newspaper and placed inside a plastic bag, firmly sealed, and then placed into your household rubbish.

You should NOT place CFLs in your kerbside recycling collection because they can break during transport and contaminate recyclable items.

Ways to make your fridge energy efficient from Colleen Quinn:

• Don’t keep your fridge too cold. A change of one degree can effect energy consumption by 5%. Freezers should operate at -15°C to -18°C while fresh food compartments should be held at around 3°C to 5°C.
• Clean the coils annually.
• Cover food and drink to avoid evaporation in the fridge, which can force the compressor to work harder.
• Keep your freezer filled. Frozen blocks of food keep freezer temperatures more stable.
• Don’t clutter the fridge top; it can hamper the compressor’s proper air circulation.
• Don’t put your refrigerator in direct sunlight or next to an oven or dishwasher.
• Check the door seals. They should be able to hold a piece of paper in place.
• Defrost the freezer regularly and avoid frost build-ups of more than a quarter-inch.

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pic from here

Curtains have many benefits in keeping out heat and sunlight. Ask around your relatives, most people seem to have a spare pair of the rubber backed insulated curtains stashed in a cupboard somewhere.

Alternatively you might like to pick up a pair cheaply at a charity shop or ebay or even make your own. Make some ties whilst you are there, you’ll want them open in the mornings. Here’s a great easy tutorial, making curtains is pretty much just about sewing straight lines which get easier with practice!

Every now and then at Green Renters we come across products that we feel are ideally suited to our readers so we do our best to arrange some great deals for you!

Efergy e2 Wireless Smart Electricity Meter with eLINK software
Looking for a way to monitor your household’s electricity usage without having to modify your electricity meter or requiring any complex DIY work. More than that it even connects up to your computer and allows you to track your usage over periods of time as you try to (hopefully) reduce your consumption.

www.greentopia.com.au/efergy-e2-wireless-smart-electricity-meter-with-eLINK-software/EF010.htm

Until the 14th of November, you can get a $20 discount if when purchasing you mention the following coupon code : e2greenrenters

I’ve become quite fascinated with the recent plethora of ways to measure your energy usage after reading an article in Make magazine about home power monitors, connecting them up to Twitter and a whole host of other computer based ways to monitor and report on your energy use.

Firstly, here’s a list of some of the options out there :

Greenbox
Tendril
Are companies that will monitor everything for you…

The Energy Detective
Blue Line Innovations
Plogg
ZigBee
PowerKuff
Are a variety of devices used for monitoring the output of your household or individual items.

For the more adventurous and us renters who may not always be able to modify meters or our household there are DIY kits for building what are called Tweet-a-watts, one here on Ladyada and a similar project on Make magazine (but you will need an account with Make).

I’m not sure how many of these products are available in Australia or import into Australia and would appreciate any guidance on that, but in the meantime I came across one product that is affordable (about $120), suitable to renters and available in Australia!

The Efergy E2, available in Australia from Greentopia that simply attaches to your electricity meter by velcro and transmits data to your computer for monitoring. We’re going to get one and shall report back, in the meantime any other ideas and advice around this topic are greatly appreciated!