I was interviewed on Monday by a researcher from the University of Wollongong about my experiences with installing solar hot water at our old house. They’re looking into why people choose solar, how they choose the system and supplier, what their experience has been, etc. Sitting in on the interview was an interesting guy from … [Read more…]
While putting together notes for [my talks over the weekend](http://green-change.com/2009/06/14/welcome-super-challengers/), I noticed something interesting. The amount of electricity we saved each day by [converting 10 halogen downlights to CFLs](http://green-change.com/2009/05/25/converting-halogen-downlights-to-cfls/) (4 kWh) is about equal to the amount of electricity we are generating each day (on average) since [installing a 1 kW grid-connect solar power system](http://green-change.com/2009/05/18/we-now-have-solar-power/). … [Read more…]
I spoke at the launch of the [Sustainable Illawarra Super Challenge](http://www.sustainableillawarra.com.au/The-SuperChallenge.html) Round 2 today at the Dapto Ribbonwood Center. Sorry guys if I rambled too much :-). It was a great session, with beautiful food and lots of local families to meet. I was pleased to see a nice strong Kiama contingent! It was great … [Read more…]
I finally got the chance to set up my chest freezer as a fridge a couple of weeks ago, and I’ve been testing it out so I could write up this post. You may recall I mentioned that we had an old fridge/freezer running in our garage as a second fridge. With three young kids … [Read more…]
My [FridgeMate Mk II](http://mashmaster.com.au/p/365439/fridgemate-mkii-digital-temperature-controller-kit.html) digital temperature controller arrived in the post today. If you are thinking of a similar project, or just looking for home brew supplies, I highly recommend [MashMaster](http://mashmaster.com.au/). I left a question about the FridgeMate for them via their web site, and they answered it within a few hours (and this was … [Read more…]
One of the big energy hogs in our house is our clunky old second fridge in the garage. I measured its energy consumption with the [MS6115 power meter](http://green-change.com/2008/11/27/ms6115-mains-power-meter-review/), and it uses a whopping 2.5 kWh/day! Many Aussie houses have one of these beasts, which is a big reason why the NSW State Government is now … [Read more…]