A commonwealth public servant, Lilith bought her home in Waterworks community just four years ago. It is a basic 1950s, 2-bedroom weatherboard house with a tiled roof and has an extensive garden space.

Despite its cold siting, Lilith has managed to reduce her annual electricity consumption from 5,800 kwh to just 2,000 kwh within a period of four years (2005 to 2009).
 
She has achieved this amazing reduction through a combination of solarisation, increased insulation and a number of other smaller steps. To give an idea of how you might be able to achieve this yourself, here are some of the things Lilith has done.

Design

• Has capitalised on the home’s best features, despite its generally poor passive design
• Uses different living spaces in house depending on the season, rather than use unnecessary heating/cooling
• Has a cool room for food storage under house – fully insulated with batts and polystyrene

Technology – energy & water supply

• Solar provides all hot water for 60 – 70% of the year, with minimal electric boosting used at other times
• Solar Photovoltaic power installed in 2008. 
(1 kilowatt, with 2 kilowatt inverter)
• 4,000 litre rainwater tank recently installed under house

Technology – energy & water saving

• Ceiling insulation increasedto R3.5
• Underfloor insulation using R3.5 batts + recycled polystyrene
• Low-flow showerhead fitted
• All lighting via efficient bulbs
• No unnecessary technology – eg dishwasher or clothes dryer
• Windows in living area insulated 
with lined curtains & pelmets
• Hood over ceiling exhaust fan reduces heat loss
• Washing machine set to rinse 
only once
• All appliances having stand-by power are switched off at the socket after use
• Space heating delivered via small heat pump plus occasional use of wood heater
• LPG gas for cooking
• Small instant heater in bathroom
• Bedrooms etc not heated.

Household Practices

• Chickens provide eggs and manure
• Orchard fruit and nuts. Soft fruits and veggies grown under nets
• Jam cordial and wine produced. Some veggies also preserved
• All organics are composted
• Attempt to buy only seasonal foods and recycle wherever possible
• Make my own laundry detergent and use home made house cleaning agents

Not content to rest on her success, Lilith has plans for even more savings.
These include:

• Another 1 kw of solar power
• Some form of double glazing in heated living space
• Thickening ceiling insulation further still
• More work on draught exclusion
• Feed tank water to laundry taps
• Grey water recycling