Long-time residents of Claymore public housing estate in Sydney’s south-west, Nora and Terry Pierson, hoped to reduce their energy bill but were unsure how to go about it.
So when they were approached by WorkVentures to participate in the AGL Energy Matters program pilot, they happily agreed. Energy Matters, a joint program developed by AGL and WorkVentures, provides low income earners with advice on ways they can reduce their household power bills, through simple changes to their
home and appliance use.
The Energy Matters consultant who visited Nora and Terry identified a number of ways that they could reduce their energy usage. Like most people, Nora and Terry already practised basic energy-saving techniques, such as turning off lights when not in use, but they rarely turned appliances off at the switch, had an older model fridge, and were using standard high-energy light globes throughout the house.
Nora and Terry began turning appliances off at the power point. They replaced two high-energy light globes with more efficient alternatives, and are now considering updating their fridge to a newer, more energy-efficient model.
Nora found the tips provided by the program very helpful and was impressed with the substantial saving. “The main benefit for us was being able to save money,” she says.
“Our quarterly bill is normally around $200, so we were very pleased when we got our next bill, which was down to $152. The small changes we made had definitely paid off.”