The real cost of electric hot water, with key case study figures to back up the savings, have a read and request your copy of the case study.
REAL COST of HOT WATER To understand the savings an energy efficient hot water system can generate for you, you must first understand your current loads and hot water costs. Queensland government believe the avergae QLD family of 4 with an electric storage heater will cost $282 a year in electricity. We however would disagree based on several key findings and analysing the current cost of tariffs and your average QLD family usage. Firstly, energy usage was estimated at 2300KWh per year for an average family. This figure is based on a family with low usage in zone 2, which represents a minimal percentage of the QLD population. This is also backed by a recent case study that we under took. A household of two with an electric storage heater had consumed 2595 kWh over the past 12 months. This is an extra 295 kWh of energy consumed by a family of two based in zone 3, incomparison to the governments average 4 person home. This information would suggest a family uses more energy than the estimated 2300kWh per year, which is an under representation of the avergae QLD household. A fair figure should be taken from the average family of 4 with medium usage based in zone 3, South East Queensland, an area that holds a greater percentage of QLD population than zone 2. Our suggested usage for an average QLD family using an electric storage unit is between 2500 – 3500kWh. Secondly,the most common tariff identified was tariff 31 (off peak) at the old rate of 8.44 c/kWh. Currently based on the Queensland competition authority paper on regulation of energy tariff rates for 2012-13, 17% of all households use tariff 31 to heat their water. Furthermore, the new tariffs have increased in cost with tariff 31 now costing 12.109 c/kWh and tariff 33 costing 17.1545 c/kWh. It is unrealistic to identify tariff 31 as the predominant tariff in QLD, when tariff 33 would give a more inclusive result (Currently 511,000 homes are connected to T33 in comparison to T31 with 216,000 homes connected) regarding peak and off peak tariffs. Also using the current tariff rates to represent what the public are paying today and not misleading them with old figures. Our suggested tariff is tariff 33 at the current price of 17.1545 c/kWh. Based on these figures supplied, we calculated the average household hot water bill for a standard electric unit to be $428.86, that is using 2500kWh on tariff 33. This is a conservative estimate as we are aware many households will fluctuate in usage as well as using alternative systems and tariffs. However, a Hydrotherm heat pump will savings significant amounts. A family can reduce their consumption to 960 kWh per year, reducing their annual running cost by $279.15 to $149.71. These savings in both kWh and dollars are genuine when you make the switch over to hybrid hot water. To have a closer look at the case study, please e-mail cknowles@aquatechheatpumps.com.au for a copy. JOINtheRevolution By Simon Baird