The Conservation Council is developing a new website to help Canberra households ‘Make the Switch’ from gas to electricity. We would love to hear and share the stories of people who have already made this switch.
We are looking for households who have switched from gas heating (wall heaters or ducted), gas hot water, gas cooking, closed your gas account, or any combination of the four. You may have replaced individual appliances, or done a renovation, full knock-down rebuild, or built a new all-electric home. Preferably, you have some data about your gas and electricity bills before and after, costs of replacing appliances, and are willing to share your reasons for and experience of switching, and to be photographed. We are looking for households with or without rooftop solar PV. We would also like to hear from people who have built new all-electric homes.
To participate, please read through the guide below [download it as a word document] and contact Kirsten Duncan. We look forward to hearing from you!
Household profile
This is a simple set of screening questions to help us select a variety of different case studies.
- Do you own or rent your home or are you a landlord
- Is your home a house or apartment
- When was your home built
- How many bedrooms
- How many people live there (what kind of family, demographics)
- Which appliances have you switched: heating (wall or ducted), hot water, cooktop, closed gas account
- Did you replace individual appliances or (re)build as all-electric
- Do you have before and after data for gas and electricity consumption/bills, purchase & installation costs
- Do you have rooftop solar PV
- Describe your cultural background
- Are you willing to share your story including your names and above details
- Do you have high-quality photos or would you allow us to photograph you and your home
Narrative guide
The following are prompts to guide what to include in your story. We will edit as needed to suit the website.
- Tell us who you are, describe your household (eg dwelling size, people, lifestyle, culture, how long you have lived in your home and Canberra)
- What was the driver for your interest in switching from gas to electric appliances
- What gas appliances were originally in place and why
- What were your typical summer/winter gas consumption and costs
- What information did you seek, how did you go about switching
- What new electric appliances did you install or behaviours did you change
- What were the purchase and installation costs
- Did you access any rebates/subsidies
- What are your new typical summer/winter gas and electricity consumption and costs (how did they change)
- How much money have you saved, over what payback period (how long did it take to break even on costs vs savings)
- What is your experience now of living with electricity instead of gas, any surprises, any hurdles you had to overcome, anything you would do differently or recommend
- What will you do next
Download this guide as a word document. Contact Kirsten Duncan to discuss sharing your story.