Saving energy at home
Energy efficiency means using less energy for the same result and can be achieved by both changing your everyday habits or upgrading your appliances and fixtures (such as hot water heaters). As the price of electricity increases, saving energy at home is even more important.
Saving energy is also key to reducing pollution from fossil fuels. Use of electricity generated from coal and gas is the largest source of carbon emissions in the Tweed. Installing energy efficient appliances and changing your usage patterns can help you trim your energy bills and reduce your impact on the planet.
Top tips for saving energy Workshops and eventsAppliances and fixtures Energy calculators Find a rebate
Top tips for saving energy
- Set your air conditioning thermostat 21ºC or below in winter and 25ºC or above in summer.
- Turn off appliances at the wall when not needed.
- Shorter showers = less hot water heating.
- Water efficient showerheads and taps = less hot water heating. Find out about Council rebates for water efficient showerheads and taps.
- When it’s time to replace appliances and fixtures, choose energy efficient alternatives.
- Calculate your carbon footprint, or sign up to a program to help you make small lifestyle changes such as:
Workshop and events
Home Energy Assessor, Seb Crangle, helping people review their power bills at the 2026 Power Pop Up stall.
Power Pop Up stall
Tweed Shire Council's Climate Change and Sustainability Program staff and home energy consultant Sebastian Crangle hosted an Energy Pop Up stall at Tweed City, Tuesday 10 and Wednesday 11 March 2026.
Across the two days, over 50 people visited the stall, with nearly 40 energy-related inquiries. Visitors' key concerns and inquiries included:
- feeling overwhelmed by electricity bills, especially how confusing and technical the bills can be
- the surprising variability of electricity bills, particularly now that Federal Government rebates for all households ended in December 2025
- increases in daily supply costs from electricity companies, with customers' plans ranging from $1.63 per day through to $2.10 per day
- concerns about customers inadvertently paying a "loyalty tax" by staying with an electricity company for a long time, too nervous or overwhelmed to check with their provider whether they're on the best energy plan.
Fifteen participants reviewed their electricity bills to check for better plans. Staff helped people to check the independent Australian Government website EnergyMadeEasy.gov.au to compare their current electricity plan with others on the market.
Participants checked their eligibility for NSW Government energy rebates. According to NSW Government data, for the year ended 30 June 2025, $3 million worth of NSW Government energy rebates went unclaimed in the Tweed, including:
- nearly 7,000 customers who missed out on the Low-Income Housing rebate
- just over 400 seniors missed out on the Seniors Energy Rebate
- 4,778 Family Energy Rebates went unclaimed.
Discounts for cost saving equipment were of interest to Power Pop Up stall visitors such as Council's rebates for water saving showerheads and tapware, and other government programs offering incentives for hot water heat pumps, solar and batteries.
Jan from Banora Point won a free Energy-Saving Home Assessment, valued at $400.
Stay tuned for more council events like this. Subscribe to Council's Environment and Sustainability e-newsletter, sent straight to your email inbox.
Appliances and fixtures
Saving money, increasing efficiency and reducing your carbon footprint can be achieved by changing your everyday habits. Increase efficiency in your home by upgrading fixtures and appliances to more efficient alternatives.
Below are some of the priority areas with the potential to save the most money:
Water heating
If you have an electric hot water heater, it’s likely that more than 30% of your electricity consumption goes into making hot water, so this is your biggest opportunity to reduce your energy bills.
Change your habits
- Save money by using less hot water – take shorter showers and cold wash your clothes.
Reducing your 10-minute shower to 6 minutes could save a family of 4 more than $1,500 per year.*
Water efficient tapware saves the average household $175 per year: 65% from avoided water heating and 35% from reduced water bills.
*Based on flow rate of 12 litres per minute, water heated to 40°C.
Upgrade your fixtures
- Water-efficient tapware can help you save hot water.
- Replace your old electric hot water system with an energy efficient system.
- Solar hot water systems use the sun’s energy to heat water. Save an average of 3 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year.
- Access NSW Government incentives to reduce the cost of Hot water heat pumps. This technology uses a refrigerant which boils at ambient air temperature to generate heat. Saves power and an average of 2.4 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year.
Appliances
Change your habits
- Turn appliances off at the wall, or on the unit themselves. TVs and DVDs can use energy while in standby mode.
- Turn your computer off instead of hibernating or sleep mode.
Did you know that turning off standby power can cut the average household’s energy bill by up to 10%?
Upgrade your fixtures
- Choose the most energy efficient models when purchasing or replacing appliances and equipment.
- Recycle your e-waste –old TVs and computer monitors can be dropped off to Stotts Creek Resource Recovery Centre for free.
Find out how much energy your appliances use.
Heating and cooling
Change your habits
- Set your air conditioning thermostat 25°C or above in summer, or 21°C or below in winter.
- Use the air conditioner or heater sparingly, where possible.
- Close internal doors and only heat or cool your most used areas.
Every 1°C increase or decrease in temperature settings on your unit adds 10% to heating or cooling costs and greenhouse gas emissions.
Upgrade your fixtures
- Improve your home's insulation.
- Use external shading such as trees, eaves, awnings or shutters to reduce heat gain by as much as 80%.
Find out how much energy your heating and cooling appliances use
Lighting
Lighting accounts for approximately 10% of an average household’s electricity budget. LEDs use much less energy to provide the same amount of light as other forms of lighting.
Change your habits
- Switch off lights when you leave the room.
- Minimise the use of down lights or use lower wattage bulbs where possible to reduce energy consumption.
Upgrade your fixtures
- Replace incandescent and halogen lights with LED lighting.
- Use sensors to turn off lighting when a room is empty or lighting is sufficient.
- Consider skylights to increase natural light (well insulated).
LED lights may be more expensive to purchase, but last much longer, at a lower cost per year. LEDs use about 75% less energy than halogen lightbulbs and last 5 to 10 times longer.
Lighting buyers guide
Refrigeration
Change your habits
- Avoid using a second fridge or freezer as these consume lots of additional energy. Consider only using during holiday or celebration periods if necessary.
- Keep the coils at the back of the fridge clean and well-ventilated to improve efficiency.
- Don’t over or underfill your fridge.
- Frozen water bottles in your freezer can prevent excess cold air escaping when you open the door.
- Find the right temperature settings to save energy and prevent food wastage.
Upgrade your fixtures
- When it’s time to replace an appliance, use energy ratings to choose an efficient model.
- Old fridges can consume twice the energy of a new fridge.
More efficient appliances are usually more expensive to purchase, but often work out cheaper in the long run due to the energy saved.
Choice guide to fridge and freezer temperature settings
Guidance for buying fridges and freezers
Energy calculators
The Energy rating calculator allows you to compare estimated running costs and star ratings for common household appliances. Find and compare energy efficient appliances.
Find and compare energy companies and plans on the Energy Made Easy website.
Find out your carbon footprint, emissions, water or waste consumption on the Climate Action Australia website.
Visit Council’s waste, water and transport pages for more ideas to reduce your emissions footprint.
Find a rebate
The NSW Government offer a range of rebates to support households and businesses in energy bill relief, adopting renewable energy, installing more energy efficient appliances and infrastructure to support electric vehicle use.
Check out this August 2026 summary of available rebates and discounts(PDF, 415KB).
Tweed Shire Council offers rebates for water efficient showerhead and tapware, and reusable products.