Saving anything depends, simply, on using less of that
commodity in the first place.
Should you want to reduce your telephone bill, make fewer
calls; reduce your petrol bill, drive less; preserve your bank account, don’t
take money out; use less electricity, don’t turn it on.
That rather simplistic advice just won’t work in our modern,
complex society as invariably the costs that overwhelm us, are all largely
unavoidable regardless of what they might be.
Advice about all those matters proliferate and despite the
claims of many it is not often you can find any, or even one, that allows you to
hold your place in modern society while saving money.
GV Community Energy (GVCE) is a rare beast in that it
operates within the confines of the commercial market, is not-for-profit and is
truly there to aid and serve the community. It is driven by care, not profit.
The group “erupted” into life with a massively successful
public meeting in Murchison at which more than 400 people almost unanimously
agreed with the idea of establishing a bulk-buying scheme of residential solar
panels.
From there, the group began considering the overall energy
consumption of homes and has partnered with the Melbourne-based company, Cherry LED Lighting to show people how they can switch to LED lighting and benefit
from the savings.
Cherry LED Lighting General manager Ben Wright recently
explained the benefits of LED lighting at two Benalla seminars, the first in a
series of roadshow to travel around the Goulburn Valley.
Ben explained that Cherry LED is Australian owned and all
the products they sell are designed in Australia for local conditions and
although made in China, the design and quality requirements are so demanding
and specific that all production contracts are individually negotiated.
Working with Cherry LED Lighting, GVCE has arranged a
group-buying scheme to minimise purchasing and installation costs leading to a
home lighting system that dramatically improves savings, both financially and
in terms of electricity consumption.
GVCE and Cherry LED Lighting have done the energy sums for
you and those combined with the vastly longer life of the lights themselves,
then savings, both economically and environmentally are clearly measurable.
The LED light is applicable in both residential and
commercial applications and is evidence of how technology can play an
instrumental role, albeit small in this case, in mitigating climate change
.
However, small individually it may be, but insignificant it
is not when considered society wide.
Using the example of a house with 27 down-lights, Ben
explained the savings in carbon dioxide gases annually was more than 2600kg,
representing removing 2.5 cars from the road over a decade.
Saving anything, in this case energy, is simply about
initially making the correct decisions.
