Saving on heat at home

MELBOURNE-based energy advisor and writer, Tim Forcey will soon bring more than a decade’s worth of knowledge in efficient home energy use to Ballarat.

Following the upcoming release of his My Efficient Electric Home handbook, slated for release on 18 June, Mr Forcey will be in town as the next guest speaker in Ballarat Renewable Energy and Zero Emissions’ Green Drinks program.

He said he’ll have an array of cost-saving measures to put in place when heating your home.

“I had a casual research job at the University of Melbourne, and we realised people can heat their homes with an air conditioner at about the third of the cost of gas,” he said.

“There’s still a lot of people…who haven’t heard the news yet. I’ve been on kind of a mission for the last 10 years to let people know.

“You don’t need to heat with gas, in fact you can use the same reverse cycle heat pump technology to heat your water.

“Cooking with gas even has health issues at home.”

Mr Forcey’s advisory work has been complemented since 2015 by his My Efficient Electric Home Facebook group, where the book gets its namesake, which currently has nearly 120,000 members.

He said his advice is particularly suited to a Ballarat audience given the arrival of winter and the region’s notoriously chilly conditions.

“There’s other things people can do like attending insulation, draft proofing, getting the most out of their solar panels,” he said.

“I’ve been in peoples’ homes in Melbourne and Ballarat where they’re spending $10 to $25 a day on heat with gas.

“If you can get reverse cycle air conditioning happening, whether that’s split system or ducted systems, you can heat for a third of the cost.

“There’s a bit of a movement of people getting their home off gas.”

Mr Forcey’s free talk will take place at the Bunch of Grapes Hotel from 6.30pm on Thursday 20 June.