The City of Armadale is encouraging residents and ratepayers to visit their local library and learn how to save dollars and trim their annual household budget.
Mayor Henry Zelones said thanks to a partnership between the Switch your thinking! program and Rivers Regional Council, being environmentally friendly has just been made a whole lot easier.
“Home Sustainability Audit Kits, can be borrowed free of charge by residents, and provide practical tools and information to help householders conduct a simple home audit and discover easy ways to cut their households energy, water and waste bills.
“The average Australian household uses approximately 6.5 Megawatts of electricity each year which costs $1,755 on top of fixed charges from electricity retailers.
“With a little knowledge and care it’s possible to cut household electricity use by up to 25%, saving a typical household around $435 per year, which I’m sure could be put to better use,” said Mayor Zelones.
Each Home Sustainability Audit Kits comes with:
- Electricity Meter - Enables measurement of electricity consumption of all electrical appliances with a standard 3-pin plug. Useful for measuring the electricity consumption of appliances such as fridges, televisions, microwaves and computers and their standby consumption.
- Infrared thermometer - Used to check the effectiveness of ceiling insulation and window treatments and for identifying heat sources and leaks in and around your home.
- Compass - Assists in identifying: the homes orientation for solar aspect considerations; suitability of orientation of roof aspect for hot water and electricity solar panels.
- Thermometer - Enables measurement of air temperature around houses, hot water systems, fridges and freezers.
- Flow cup - Measures the flow rates of your taps and showers.
- Bag IT DVD – The story of Jeb Berrier, an average American guy who makes a pledge to stop using plastic bags.
- The Zero-Waste Lifestyle book by Amy Korst.
- Your Home Manual – The Australia Government’s Guide to designing, building and renovating environmentally sustainable homes
- Supporting instruction sheets and information.
For more information and tips on how to reduce your environmental footprint and save money visit www.switchyourthinking.com.
