Over the past year, Michelle. Thompson. The electricity bill at Rein (Michelle Thompson Laing) 's home has been cut by thousands of dollars. The 33-year-old full-time mother was a former pediatrician and her husband was a scientist. They live together on the North Beach of Sydney.
The couple, with three young sons, aged 10 months, 4 and 6, moved to a new home about a year ago due to increased population.
In planning the family budget, Michelle has done a lot of research.
"We moved from a small conjoined villa to a large stand-alone house, so I asked the agency if I could trouble them to see if they could see what the electricity bill was," she said in an interview with news.
"I almost had a heart attack [after hearing it]. I can't believe the electricity bill for a quarter is 1800 to 2000 yuan. When we moved in, I said, 'Yes, we're going to do everything we can to reduce the electricity bill.'
She said her family's quarterly electricity bill for the past year ranged from 420 yuan to 600 yuan, depending on the season.
She saved a total of about 5400 yuan in electricity.
Their home is full of downlights (downlights), Michelle says her first step is to replace all the high-power halogen lamps with energy-efficient LED lights.
"the only thing that makes us spend money is changing the light bulb; a lot of it comes down to the way you use the house," she said.
She spent a lot of time looking for some very simple ways to cut costs.
"it's the basic habit of making sure that we turn off all our lights and turn off all our appliances. We stay in one room at a time. We don't leave the lights on in one room, the computers in the other room on, and the TV in the bedroom on. "
"there are four air conditioners in the house, and I don't know if I left them all on at the same time. Even the iron house has air conditioning, who would want to pay for it? We'll keep the house at the right temperature. "
She says it's cheaper to wear more knit shirts than to turn on the heat.
Michelle will make sure that there are things in the fridge and freezer so she won't waste the space to cool out the electricity. She doesn't need a dishwasher unless the dishwasher can be filled.
She studied peak and low power peaks and timed the washing machine to allow it to run during the cheapest hours of the day.
"We don't put things in dryers unless they have to be dried," she added. If it's not very hot, we won't turn on the air conditioner. "
"We also make sure that all our appliances are energy efficient. At first we spent a little more money, but now we are beginning to pay off. "
She and her husband will also compare electricity suppliers to three.
Their current power company is Alinta.. Founded in 1995 as a small gas distributor in Western Australia, the company is now one of Australia's largest energy infrastructure companies. "this is the cheapest power company we can find," Michelle said.
Her advice was simple and straightforward, and she said anyone could do it.