Earlier quoted context omitted.
>That said, I much prefer living in Australia to the U.S., especially while raising a family. Why is that?
Because everyone is so much more energy efficient by virtue of high energy bills
LOL, and this too :P
Australia has the most expensive energy bills
31–40 of 187 posts
Re: Australia has the most expensive energy bills
#32Sort of on-topic but I recall once an Australian company called Enviromission that was wanting to build solar updraft towers in the outback. With so much incredibly solar-rich, un-used land, I thought Australia would've gone all in for solar by now.
You greatly underestimate how utterly devoid of morals both of our major parties are, resulting in them being in the pocket of the coal miners and other big corps. They are almost militantly opposed to non-coal, non-LNG investment.
This is a government which earlier this year brought a lump of coal in to parliament as a prop to say that they were 'not afraid of coal' and to attack the opposition for 'attacking the jobs of rural workers at the coal mines'. I'm not even joking: https://www.theguardian.com/global/video/2017/feb/09/scott-m...
Re: Australia has the most expensive energy bills
#33I moved to Newcastle, Australia from the US (Los Angeles) about two years ago. I was shocked when I received my energy bill. Australians in general are hesitant to use their AC or electric heaters, opting to just layer up when it's cold or try to use fans in the summer. Many (most?) households don't have clothes dryers, using clotheslines instead. I would like to see how much energy the average Australian household c…
> Australians in general are hesitant to use their AC or electric heaters, opting to just layer up when it's cold or try to use fans in the summer. Many (most?) households don't have clothes dryers, using clotheslines instead.
Are you suggesting these are bad things? I think they're positive however, it varies wildly across different locations and demographics.
> I would like to see how much energy the average Australian household consumes.
Again, an average figure wouldn't be that insightful, as there are probably massive differences in different populations. Additionally, building standards change things considerably (presence or lack of insulation, double glazing, ceiling height, aspect) - certain eras and locations (often due to regulations) get these things right, others don't.
I'm not sure how much consumption would go up if power got cheaper, but mine sure would... I really dislike being cold inside my own house. That said, I much prefer living in Australia to the U.S., especially while raising a family.
Re: Australia has the most expensive energy bills
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Australians in general are hesitant to use their AC or electric heaters Anecdotal, but I don't think I know a single person here who is hesitant to use heating/AC - could just be down to the people I know, but I get funny looks when I tell people just to wrap up. Something that did surprise me here is the near-complete lack of double glazing. Everywhere I've lived has been thin single-glazed windows which just let…
Im in Sydney and I've got an AC unit from the 70s or 80s in a house I recently bought. Im very hesitant to turn it on as I know it will be super inefficient. Im hoping to replace it later in the year. But until then its layer up! unless guests are coming over.
Would it actually be that inefficient? I honestly don't know, but am curious if the tech has changed that significantly. Consider lifecycle costs (both financial and resources) before replacing it; might just need a clean and service.
Re: Australia has the most expensive energy bills
#35I moved to Newcastle, Australia from the US (Los Angeles) about two years ago. I was shocked when I received my energy bill. Australians in general are hesitant to use their AC or electric heaters, opting to just layer up when it's cold or try to use fans in the summer. Many (most?) households don't have clothes dryers, using clotheslines instead. I would like to see how much energy the average Australian household c…
> Australians in general are hesitant to use their AC or electric heaters Anecdotal, but I don't think I know a single person here who is hesitant to use heating/AC - could just be down to the people I know, but I get funny looks when I tell people just to wrap up. Something that did surprise me here is the near-complete lack of double glazing. Everywhere I've lived has been thin single-glazed windows which just let…
I avoid using my AC but I'm just really cheap and don't mind suffering through heat too badly. It helps that I also work in an office fulltime so that's full HVAC and I'm not home during most days when it's bad. I also love the cold (to the extent that QLD has cold) so right now I'm in a shirt and shorts and loving it.
Re: Australia has the most expensive energy bills
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
>That said, I much prefer living in Australia to the U.S., especially while raising a family. Why is that?
It's obviously a subjective matter. However, seems as he specifically mentioned "while raising a family", here are a few possible reasons: - Safety In general Australia has a lower crime rate than USA. Of course, there are absolutely areas within USA that would have a lower crime rate than certain areas of Australia. http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/compare/Australia/U... - Health Care Australia has well esta…
I agree with all your points. I worked in the entertainment industry when I was in L.A. Now, I work in tech as a software engineer. I feel my professional prospects were a bit stronger in the U.S., and I still prefer living in Oz.
I also feel like there was more pressure to "keep up with the Joneses" in SoCal. Mind you, I live in Newcastle, so I kinda avoid the housing problem that we have in Sydney and (now) Melbourne.
Re: Australia has the most expensive energy bills
#37Hmm. Price per kWh is not really a good way to compare. My last bill in Ontario had about $10 in usage in kWh but on top of that there are mandatory 'delivery' charges which, in my case, amounted to $90. The real rate I pay (before taxes) is essentially 10x the supposed kWh rate. And from the news reports locally, I'm getting off very lightly. My bills are multiples what they were in the UK (for the same usage) and b…
I would guess analyses like these would do something like calculating the cost to an average household over the year, divided by the usage; that would swallow up market trickery like you mention. If not, then the analysis is useless.
Re: Australia has the most expensive energy bills
#38Hmm. Price per kWh is not really a good way to compare. My last bill in Ontario had about $10 in usage in kWh but on top of that there are mandatory 'delivery' charges which, in my case, amounted to $90. The real rate I pay (before taxes) is essentially 10x the supposed kWh rate. And from the news reports locally, I'm getting off very lightly. My bills are multiples what they were in the UK (for the same usage) and b…
In QLD my rates are as follows, GST included: Supply charge: $1.10/day Usage rate: 28.6c/kWh Therefore, my standard quarterly bill will have $100 of supply charges in addition to any usage that occurs. I am super lucky that I got on to PV when there was a large (unsustainably so) government incentive, so my feed-in rate is 54.6c/kWh (not including GST) which more than offsets my normal use since I am never home durin…
The fact one person gets negative bills doesn't mean it's unsustainable. It's only unsustainable if it costs more in energy storage + standby infrastructure + your negative bill than it costs to run the usual energy production pipeline.
That may be the case, but it's unrelated to whether you're paid back or not.
Re: Australia has the most expensive energy bills
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
>That said, I much prefer living in Australia to the U.S., especially while raising a family. Why is that?
It's obviously a subjective matter. However, seems as he specifically mentioned "while raising a family", here are a few possible reasons: - Safety In general Australia has a lower crime rate than USA. Of course, there are absolutely areas within USA that would have a lower crime rate than certain areas of Australia. http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/compare/Australia/U... - Health Care Australia has well esta…
"Higher income earners are expected to also have private health insurance and are penalised in their taxes if they don't have it"
Also, foreigners that move here after the age of 35! We have private health cover as well and it's great.
Re: Australia has the most expensive energy bills
#40I live in Victoria, Australia. Energy bills are through the roof - almost literally as "insulation" is a thing just about no-one here has any competence with. Whatsoever. I'm talking about builders and building code designers specifically. Ironically (see the top and bottom positions of the chart), I spent the first 40% of my life in Norway where things do get proper cold as opposed to in Australia where it's accepte…
> I'm talking about builders and building code designers specifically.
Noone is a bad generalisation here. There are designers and builders who do know and do care - you just pay extra for the design and extra for materials. If you get a project house on a new estate (like lots of people do)... you're basically getting cheap and simple result that's cheap and simple.
Source: talking to a designer about just that.