12 September 2020
We have been on a transition from traditional hydrocarbon based energy to an electric-only based solution. For the last few months, we’ve been using electricity as our sole energy source.
In this post, I will compare the pre-electric and post-electric energy costs.
Before our transition, we use traditional piped gas central heating to heat our home. Hot water heating was also from gas.
Our transportation was provied by a Ford Territory SUV, which ran on diesel. We do around 1,100 km of driving each month.
We used electricity for our lighting and cooking. Note that we have solar panels, so this does keep our electricity prices lower - even in winter.
Here are the costs for August 2018:
| Energy source - August 2018 | Supplier | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Natural Gas | Genesis | $221 |
| Electricity | Flick Electric | $86 |
| Diesel (110 litres) | Fuel stations | $145 at $1.32 per litre |
| Total | $452 |
Since August 2018, we have sold our SUV and replaced it with a second hand Nissan Leaf (imported from Japan). The car is charged at home, mostly during the day if possible - so that the solar panels refill the battery for free.
We have also replaced our aging gas heating and boiler system with a electric heat-pump based central heating solution (uses the same radiators).
Here are the energy costs for August 2020:
| Energy source - August 2020 | Supplier | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Electricity | Ecotricity | $247 |
| Total | $247 |
So, it looks like we’re saving around $200 per month on the electric-only solution - for winter months. Will be interesting to see the comparison in spring and summer.