Grenum

Energy efficient split system air conditioners

Air conditioners get a bad rap for the load they place on the energy system. It surprises many people to learn though that they’re particularly efficient at turning energy into warmth or coolth. If you’re buying a new unit or replacing an old unit these tips will help you minimise the energy consumption and maximise the life of the air conditioner. Buying guide Energy efficiency rating – all…

I had the opportunity to take a Fonzarelli electric scooter for a spin. It’s a 125 cc equivalent that would be great for getting around town. For anyone that’s spent a bit of time riding motorbikes, it’s hard to overstate how big a deal the lack of engine noise is. Motorbike riding is normally yourself, inside your helmet, wind noise that increases with speed and the constant buzz of the bike…

Future Energy Predictions through the Lense of the Cloud

Having just finished a 9 month stint at a startup electricity retailer I’m looking for a problem to solve in the energy space with some green outcomes. A few randomly interconnected thoughts follow on where I think we might be headed, dwelling in part in what I’ve seen happen with Internet connectivity whilst running a cloud company since 2000. BREAKDOWN OF RETAIL POWER COST The costs of the…

Solar Energy Self Consumption

Per my post about Pooled Energy I recently took a day job with an electricity retailer. As someone with a keen (odd?) personal interest in how the electricity markets operate from a sustainability perspective it’s been an eye opener. Whilst the pool automation system is awesome they don’t offer a FiT, so any excess power I export to the grid I get zip, nada, zilch for. At first I didn’t think…

Pooled Energy Swimming Pool Maintennace System

A couple of months ago we moved into a house that had a swimming pool.  I knew it was going to be a big power user (this house had averaged 45 kWh/day vs 15 kWh/day in the old one over the prior 12 months) but I’d previously learned how to optimise a pool for energy efficiency so I set to work. I had a pool cover installed within a week, had cut back the hours on the pump and installed a spare…

Running your pool pump on off peak electricity

Historically Australian homes were on single rate and off-peak/controlled load tariffs – all of their power at the same rate regardless of what time of day it was used. The exception being hard wired off peak circuits which received power for a set number of hours overnight. The exact time and duration these circuits receive power is governed by the electricity provider and appliances can only be…

Downlight’s pepper your ceiling with holes through which you loose heat in the winter and gain it in summer. To make your home safer and more energy efficient you need some form of cover over them.

(more…)

Read the story of GoFar - the amazing money, time and earth saving driving widget. @gofarcar @founding

I first met Danny the founder of Greendrive at the Founders Institutestartup launch program about 2 years ago. Back then it was a “cleantech business creating new automotive technologies to increase vehicle efficiency and reduce emissions” (snooze). In layman’s terms he was building a widget that plugged into a port on your car to help you reduce your CO2 emissions. It sounded quite ambitious and…

Branched Drain Grey Water Diversion

After deciding I wanted to keep my grey water onsite but finding the commercial products a little on the expensive side I went looking for cheaper alternatives.

My first attempt was a 200L drum outside my bathroom connected to the waste outlet from my bath, lined with some rudimentary filters and draining to the garden via 19mm poly pipe. This was a failed experiment with a positive outcome. I…

Sustainable Coffee Capsule Alternatives

I have to start this article by putting my hand up and saying that I’m a Nespresso hater. It’s not just because everyone has one it’s the waste created by the capsules and the cheap appliances that will have inevitably short lives before joining their capsules in landfill.

I’ve heard and subsequently re-told stories about how Nespresso capsules really have instant coffee inside them, how they…

Unfortunately it’s slim pickings drinkers of Australian organic beers at the moment. Unless you happen to live near one of a handful of boutique brewers you’re pretty much limited to Mountain Goat’s Organic Steam Ale.

As Deena Shanker explains over at Grist, the organic ingredients don’t really change the taste to the benefit to the consumer is purely the knowledge that the ingredients were grown…

First Light Organics Baby Products

Since 2006 First Light Organics have produced the finest quality natural baby products in small fresh batches from locally grown produce* in northern NSW. They use only raw and sustainably sourced ingredients that are certified organic.

The result is a product that’s safe enough to eat! It’s noticeably smoother and more gentle on your baby – it’s “extremely pure and delicately effective”.

The…

Online Organic & Biodynamic Wine Retailers

Most retail liquor outlets at best stock a very limited (commonly half a dozen) organic, bio-dynamic or natural wines. Here are six specialist online retailers that only sell these wines, carry extensive ranges and all deliver Australia wide.

Organic Wine

Brunswick, Victoria

(more…)

Australian Organic Wine Producers

Australia has a strong local market for the production of wines that are free of or have minimal use of chemicals and artificial fertilisers. They use grapes which are grown using methods that are mindful of the environment and with an understanding of sustainability and often bottled with no or minimal use of  preservatives.

We’ve compiled a comprehensive listing of all Australian wineries…

Look after your garden and buy a shredder. Put through it anything that won’t naturally breakdown quickly and then add it to your compost or use directly as mulch on your garden.

Let’s think about the alternative – plants grow in your garden using nutrients from the soil, they die or you cut them down and put them in your green waste bin. A man then drives around town in a truck to take your…

Bird & Rat Scaring Owl

I’d protected the veggies from the dog and the slugs but my ripe veggies and new seedlings continued to disappear. A quick check with the thermal imaging camera confirmed my suspicions – rats. A plastic owl from your local Bunnings or online from Masters does an amazingly effective job of solving this problem.

The first couple of weeks of the plastic owl in my garden startled me when it caught my…

Australian Native Stingless Bees

Do you like the idea of keeping bees but aren’t so fond of the idea of being stung? Try keeping Australian Native Stingless Bees. Keeping native bees is simple and family friendly. They’ll do a wonderful job of pollinating your flowers, fruit and veggie patches. You’re also doing your bit to help rebuild their population which has been declining due to development.

Note though that they’re not…