Gillian completely electrified her terrace house… with help from her neighbourhood group
Gillain was wondering if it was time to replace her hot water system when her central heating failed. Luckily, just at that time, she was able to attend a neighbourhood meeting about electrification to get some insight and support. Her street sustainability group has been active for many years.
Electrify Yarra spoke at that meeting about the benefits of electrification, but importantly a neighbourhood couple at that meeting had already converted to a fully electric house - and that was an enormous incentive and help.
We sat down with Gillian to learn about her electrification journey.
Why have you electrified your home?
I've lived in the house for ten years. Just after I moved in I had a gas central heating system installed in the ceiling. Not long after, I installed a basic system with solar panels. Recently I have had concerns about the age of the hot water system and then in November the heating died and left me having to make some decisions quickly.
For many years now I’ve been concerned about the environment and a growing awareness of the benefits of electrification through my daughter who works with a sustainability group in Beechworth. Faced with replacing both heating and hot water systems, I realised this was an opportunity to make the house much more efficient and better for the environment. I was also keen to reduce enormous gas bills.
Tell us about your journey
We are very lucky in our street - an active sustainability group has been going since the time I moved here with fantastically committed people.
Luckily they had organised a meeting about electrification at just the right time. Electrify Yarra spoke and I heard from neighbours who had a fully electrified house. I was then able to visit their house, see, touch and hear their appliances, but most importantly they shared the name of their installer and spoke highly of the work done.
It was a relief to find one company that could organise and oversee all the work - design, electrical and plumbing and installation. I met with them at my house together with another neighbour who asked very perceptive questions which was really helpful. They advised and then quoted on which units would be best, where they could locate them and what changes were needed to the electrical switchboard. They were incredibly knowledgeable and experienced in their area of expertise.
By then I had already received one quote to replace the gas central heating alone and that helped compare the cost of the quote for heating and hot water - I found, compared to the quote for the heating alone, the cost to upgrade to the latest model electric appliances was good value and gave me what I was looking for in a centrally heated house.
In the end I decided to invest in an induction cooktop as well, as part of the same project, since this was the only remaining gas appliance in the house and this would mean I could stop paying the $40 a month for gas charges just to be connected to the network. I have two young grandchildren who stay with me sometimes, so moving from gas to an induction cooktop was important for health reasons.
Before I went ahead, I was able to set up a FaceTime call with my daughter and the company overseeing the project to go over the quote in detail and they were able to answer all our questions with confidence.
The project was all completed really smoothly. It was all completed in one day. There were so many tradies in the house, it was amazing and they were so efficient and fully in control of their areas of expertise.
They installed:
A heat pump hot water unit to replace the gas storage unit
A heat pump ducted system in the front/older part of the house - bedrooms, bathroom and a study with ceiling vents and a larger return ceiling vent
A large split system to heat and cool the rear living area, and
The induction cooktop which fitted perfectly into the existing benchtop.
The house has a small courtyard and the water tank and condenser units could all be located there.
I’m still learning how to use everything, but I’m managing ok!
I am keeping a close eye on the capacity of my power board to cope with the new demands and this will be more of an issue in winter. So far there have been no issues and the upgrades to the switchboard including a safety switch mean that the house is safe. I’m prepared to upgrade the supply if I have to.
What lessons have you learned?
The neighbourhood group helped me find a really good company to work with that I could trust. I also gained a lot of knowledge of the area of electric energy supply.
Having a single company to deal with made the project much easier and meant that I had one place to go with questions or concerns. I found the ‘smart’ cooktop a bit challenging but I was fully supported in learning to work it properly.
What’s on your electrification wish list?
My car is aging so I’ll need to plan for that at some time - I’m not really ready to handle an electric car - so maybe it will be a hybrid, but I won’t be changing soon.
I think I have enough solar panels for now, but I’ve been away a bit since the project was completed so I’ll need to see how the extra demand goes against my solar generation.
I think the changes I’ve made have really improved the house.I feel pleased to have made an easy transition away from gas to electricity and to have made a small contribution towards saving the planet.
