Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely! In fact, that’s one of the best aspects of energyFit: we tailor our service to you.
Homeowners: energyFit can help you become free from electricity and gas bills, ASAP.
Property Investors: energyFit shows you how to increase your asset value and tempt savvy tenants who want low or no bills. Also, EnergyFit can help you and your existing tenant make a deal that works for both of you. Consider, your tenant is probably paying over $2,000 in electricity or electricity and gas bills. Why let that value go to an energy company. If you install more efficient fixed appliances and / or solar PV, you could increase the rent and your tenant will save on bills. EnergyFit can show the tenant how much they will save each month and help you install the most cost effective products.
Here is an example, you might install solar PV for $4,000. To get the rate of return you want, you need to increase the rent by $40 per month. Your tenant saves $84 per month on electricity, so overall you have reduced the cost of living of your tenant by $44 per month, plus you are getting extra value from your investment.
Everyone wins, except the energy company…….
Tenants: You read the investor section – speak to your landlord or agent! EnergyFit can help you come to an agreement with your landlord on installing better appliances and Solar PV. EnergyFit acts as an independent adviser on what should be installed to help you reduce your bills by as much as possible, without costing the landlord too much. We also estimate how much the installation will reduce your electricity and gas bills so you know how the changes will benefit you.
One of our energyFit consultants is with you from start to finish.
Firstly, we find out what’s your goal: no electricity or gas bills, or maybe net zero emissions. Maybe you want to go off-grid, or perhaps stay connected and make money by selling energy. It’s up to you.
Secondly, we make a time to visit you and take down some information about your home (its construction, what type of appliances you have, your location, etc.), as well as a few questions about how you use energy (they’re very easy!)
Lastly, we put all that information into our clever software and provide you with an easy-to-read report showing you exactly what changes to make in your home and importantly, which brand and model is best for you (see Step 1).
If you choose our premium service, we will also help you get the best quotes in your area, we will organise the installations and we will monitor your home’s electricity use for three years, to make sure everything runs like it should (first 12 months) and to make sure you are on the best electricity deal for three years.
Probably! Some people think the only way to reduce electricity bills is by installing solar PV, however choosing the right fixed appliances makes a huge difference to your bills. For example, in apartments hot water can make up 60 per cent of your electricity bills and the air conditioner can make up a further 20 per cent. Give us a call and we’ll talk you through the details. With a few quick questions we can usually tell if you have room to reduce your bills.
Yes, when you are building a new home you are locking in aspects of the home that will impact your bills for the next 20 years or more. Get in touch and ask about our service for building new homes.
If you are interested in reducing the energy bills of your new home, you may have already got some advice. This advice may have come from a friend, relative, builder or architect. However, this advice could be out of date, or maybe it was right for your friend or relative but that doesn’t mean it’s right for you.
For example we typically save people building new homes between $8,000 and $24,000 on upfront building costs while ensuring they will have zero electricity and gas bills in the future. I know that sounds like a lot but some advice about how to reduce future bills when building a new home is really out of date……..
It’s really important to think about electricity and gas bills when moving into your new home. Borrowing some extra money upfront to replace the fixed appliances like heaters, hot water systems, air conditioners, etc. and install solar PV can really reduce your immediate cost of living.
Here is an example, say you borrowed an extra $16,000 when you purchased a home, made changes to some fixed appliances and installed solar PV, which saved you $3,200 on annual electricity and gas bills.
You would pay an extra $84 per month on loan repayments but you would save $267 per month on electricity and gas, so overall you would be $183 a month better off. Note, the monthly electricity and gas saving is high because in this example, the home owner reduced bills to zero and also started selling electricity back to the grid.
In this example you are borrowing the upfront cost from the bank, so you may have needed to save a 20% deposit on the $16,000, which is $3,200. However you reduced your cost of living by $183 per month or $2,196 per year. Therefore your out of pocket expense of $3,200 is paid back in 18 months, and for the life of your loan, maybe 30 years you are saving $183 every month.
If you choose to use EnergyFit, we can make sure all the fixed appliances and solar PV are optimised to work together and optimised for how you use the home. Our method ensures the upfront cost is minimised, while the monthly bill savings are maximised.
If you have recently purchased a home, it’s a good time to call EnergyFit.
If you are looking at homes and you want to get an idea about the likely energy bills, or want to know what it would take to get them to zero, give EnergyFit a call.
Honestly, it’s pretty complicated stuff. We’re proud that our EnergyFit service can do the hard work quickly and efficiently for you. Our service is designed to check over 200 thousand combinations of opportunities to reduce your bills. This ensures our final solution is the optimum solution for you.
That said, if you get quotes from installers and builders, and talk to other people about what they did to reduce their bills, you will probably get 60-70% of the way there. We generally find we reduce the upfront cost by around $4,000 when compared to when people take recommendations from supplier, friends and family. We also find EnergyFit delivers 2 to 3 times the energy savings.
We rely on information from you about how you use your home; if the way you use your home changes after all the new equipment is installed, you’ll probably get different savings. For example, if we increase the efficiency of your heater so it’s more economical to run, you might find you run it more. That’s great, you will be much more comfortable in your home but it might mean your electricity bill doesn’t reduce as much as we predicted.
Great question: No!
We charge a one-off fee upfront; you pay your money and that’s it. We don’t receive commissions from anyone. Since you’re the only one paying us, we work for you and you alone.
This gives us the freedom to assess the whole market and give you the very best advice, so you’re not investing a cent more than you should to achieve your energy goals.
Great stuff – we think you’re making a wonderful decision.
It’s really very simple from here:
You can call up the suppliers or installers you trust, and ask for the changes we’ve recommended. This is for people who like to call around and get the best deal themselves. We get it, sometimes is fun to try and get yourself a great deal. However, if that’s not for you;
Give us a call and we can get the best deals for you, we’ll also organise the installations, monitor your electricity use for 12 months to make sure everything is working like it should and make sure you are on the best electricity deal for three years.
Once that’s done, you start saving!