Our Journey to an All-Electric Home — From Gas to Green

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What began as a concern for the planet is now becoming a smart financial move for many Australians: the electric home. The trend is even being promoted by Bunnings — “Australia and New Zealand’s leading retailer of home improvement and lifestyle products, and a major supplier to project builders, commercial tradespeople and the housing industry.”

“We recognise that our business plays an important role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and addressing climate change. Bunnings is committed to sourcing 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2025 to help achieve our target of net zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030,” the company adds.

“We have a comprehensive roadmap in place to reduce our energy consumption and to transition towards using more renewable energy sources. To deliver on this, Bunnings has signed long-term renewable electricity power purchase agreements. Over 80 per cent of the entire Bunnings network is now powered by renewable electricity. In New Zealand, Bunnings’ network is powered by 100 per cent renewable energy.”

They even stock a wide range of EV charging cables and are trialling the use of electric Fuso eCantors for delivery.

In their January issue of their magazine, Bunning’s Warehouse, they featured a friend of mine and his journey to an electrified house.

Mark sent me the link and encouraged me to write about it. They had previously electrified their house in Canberra after a significant gas bill shock. “In Canberra, my wake-up call was receiving a $AU 4,000 gas bill one winter, which was pretty scary. I knew then I had to do something,” says Mark. In their first year after conversion, they saved $10,000 off their energy bills. (You can read more about Canberra’s efforts to get away from gas use in this CleanTechnica story.)

So, when they decided to move to Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, they decided to repeat the process. Their “new” four-bedroom home was 20 years old. Electrifying it was seen as a sound long-term investment. “The total set-up, along with a Tesla Powerwall battery, cost about $60,000 — but we’re now saving about $15,000 a year, so we’re estimating a four-year payback,” Mark explains. “Our monthly electricity bills are generally a credit, depending on how much excess energy we can export in the evening for a high price.”

Mark already had an electric vehicle. To go all electric meant replacing cooking and hot water appliances and a barbecue that all ran on gas. An EV charger was installed, and to run it all, an 18 kWh solar system with 54 solar panels was put on the roof. Various government incentives and green finance offers can help with the upfront cost. “I didn’t originally come to this from a sustainability perspective — I got my first electric car because I enjoy technology,” he says. “Then I started looking at rebates for replacing gas heating and hot water and for us the savings were phenomenal, just by doing things a bit differently. Not only has our quality of life stayed the same, it’s gone up. Australia has an abundance of cheap green sustainable energy that, for the first time, is directly available to households.”

My path to saving money, the planet, and taking control of my energy sourcing was a little different. We have been living in a 50-year-old house in the northern suburbs of Brisbane for almost 30 years. Basically, every time something broke down, we replaced it with electric. We own our home, and so were able to install solar on the roof. It was a small array, as panels were expensive 25 years ago. It still works and we have added to it. We have gone from having an electricity bill of around $AU 10,000 a year to having a credit each month.

The hot water system was the first to go. We replaced it with solar — expensive, but it has paid for itself many times over. The gas heater broke down, so it was replaced by heat pumps. Just having the bottles sit beside the house was costing me $AU 180 per year, whether we used gas or not. The stove broke and so we bought an electric one.

Then, the gardening equipment was passing its use by date. I have a battery electric lawnmower, weed eater, hedge trimmer, tree saw, etc. I would have balked if I had to buy these all at once, but I didn’t — as something broke down, it was replaced by battery electric. We even have a battery electric tyre pump so I don’t have to go to the servo to check the air in the tyres. There is one lonely little gas bottle on the back deck attached to the BBQ, which rarely gets used.

After driving and working on petrol driven cars for most of my life, we took the plunge and bought an electric vehicle 5 years ago. We were spending $AU 4000 a year on petrol. Now, I charge for free from the sun. The car will pay for itself on petrol savings alone in ten years. I don’t advocate for people to throw away any perfectly good working appliance or vehicle, just replace them with electric when they inevitably break down. At retirement, we made the choice to go from 3 petrol cars to one electric. I first wrote about it here. Check out the comments under that article, one of the readers provided a great graph of his energy bills after installing solar.

Now the tough stuff — what if you rent? What if you live in a strata title dwelling? Mark and I have electrified our homes totally, it doesn’t mean everyone can or will. Work out what you can do and try that.

Renters still have to mow their lawns, why not start your electrification with garden equipment? Aldi has some great special buys on electrical gardening equipment. I have one of these. Sure, it isn’t as powerful as my old Briggs and Stratton, but it does the job, is lighter, and I am not breathing in the fumes.

My son-in-law rents an all-electric house and has been able to electrify his garden equipment. He has researched the best settings for the AC to save power. My older daughter has installed solar panels on her roof. Even something as simple as opening and closing curtains/blinds at different times of the day can help, as can turning off appliances that use standby power (the TV, the microwave, etc.).

My friend Robert works with strata title body corporates to help them transition to renewable energy. You can read about his good work here. Tenants in strata title can minimise their energy use.

As well as the economic advantages, there are health benefits from not cooking with gas, and not powering our cars and lawn mowers with petrol. The use of electricity rather than fossil fuels gives us efficacy and freedom. We can take back control. For the naysayers who criticise the use of electricity because the grid is not 100% renewable yet, I would suggest they check out the NEM Watch widget, which shows that most days, Australia’s grid is running at about 50% renewables. Electric appliances are also much more efficient.

Mark also suggested I include information on solar soaker tariffs and home energy management systems: “One of the latest pieces of the electrification puzzle is the solar soaker tariff — a clever way to take advantage of cheap, abundant solar power when the sun’s blazing. These tariffs are designed to encourage households to shift their electricity use to the middle of the day, when there’s often a surplus of solar energy being fed into the grid. That’s right, instead of paying top dollar for electricity during peak times, you can use it when it’s cheapest — or even free — depending on your provider and plan.

“What does that look like in real life? Well, you could run your dishwasher or washing machine around lunchtime instead of in the evening. Charge your EV while the sun’s out. Set your hot water system or pool pump to kick in during the day. It’s like tapping into a solar happy hour — only it lasts a few hours and can save you a fair chunk of change over time.

“Of course, it’s not always easy to micromanage your appliances like that. That’s where a Home Energy Management System (HEMS) really shines. These smart systems take the guesswork out of when and how to use your electricity. They can automatically schedule appliances to run when solar is abundant or grid prices are lowest, and even help manage battery storage if you’ve got one.

“Think of HEMS as the brains behind your electrified home. It keeps an eye on your usage, your solar production, battery charge, and even your tariff rates — all to make sure you’re using your energy in the smartest, most cost-effective way possible. And just as importantly, it protects your interests. When energy markets get complicated (and let’s be honest, they often are), having a smart system looking out for you means fewer surprises on your bill and more control in your hands.

“These tools — solar soaker tariffs and HEMS — help make the most of what you’ve got. They’re about making energy work for you, not the other way around.”

Despite the negative media coverage of climate change, we can do something. We are not helpless. “You don’t have to electrify everything at once. Start with what’s in front of you. Every step helps — for your wallet, your health, and the planet,” Mark advises. The future is indeed bright and electric.