Cost Savings

Solar panels also work best with a north or west facing roof than and where the sun is not obstructed by hills or other buildings. With solar you should also consider if you will be at home using your solar energy, or if everyone is out during the day meaning the solar energy goes to the electricity grid and you will receive “feed in tariff” which may be only half* of what you pay for electricity you use in the evening. So, the best savings from solar panels are if you are at home during the day rather than at work.

So the lowest running cost option may be using natural gas appliances for cooking, hot water and heating and using solar energy to power your lights, televisions, fridge etc. That’s why natural gas and solar energy are great partners for the cheapest, cleanest, most reliable energy option in your home!

Appliances such as heaters, hot water and cooktops will typically last for more than 10 years, over which time the running costs will be a big factor in which appliance is the cheapest long term. It is also worth considering how your household size might change over that time, which impacts how much energy you will use.

Low cost electric appliances are usually the most expensive to operate, so may cost you a lot more over the longer term. This is especially true for electric room heaters and storage hot water systems.

Natural gas appliances will have lower running costs for all but the smallest households. Similar to electricity, there is a fixed supply charge for natural gas but the same amount of energy from natural gas is much cheaper and cleaner than grid electricity. Plus, natural gas gets cheaper the more you use, which suits medium and larger households.

Solar panels capture energy from the sun during the day, but when the sun is not shining appliances require electricity or natural gas to operate. And its during our cool winter, with lower sunshine hours, that you will probably use a lot more energy for heating, hot water and cooking.

Household Size

The number of people living in your home is one of the biggest influences for energy used. For a small household, with low energy consumption the additional initial cost of installing natural gas or solar panels will take longer to pay off due to lower usage. For an average home, higher energy consumption means investing more in upfront in energy solutions such as natural gas and/or solar panels will deliver quicker cost savings.

Location

Where you live can be a big influence on what is cheapest or most reliable energy options for you. If you are considering, will you have sufficient direct sunlight for solar panels to be a good option? And with Melbourne’s cool winter climate, it can impact the performance of electric heat pump appliances, just when you are most depending on the heater to warm the house and you want a warm shower!

Reliability

The need for reliable energy supply varies for different people. For some, an electricity outage may be little more than an inconvenience, but for others it can be life threatening. In recent years, the electricity supply in some areas has become increasingly unreliable due to factors such as high demand, storm damage or intermittent supply issues.

Having an additional energy source, such as natural gas can give you additional options and peace of mind when the electricity goes out. Natural gas is the most reliable home energy option, so even when your electricity is out, you can often still use natural gas for cooking, hot water or heating.

Solar panels may seem like a backup energy option, but usually they cannot provide a backup during an electricity outage as they must automatically turn off in an outage to avoid electricity being sent into the powerlines while repairs may be in progress.