What is an Energy Freedom Home?

1. Reduced reliance on centrally generated power (either from piped or bottled gas or electricity from the national grid) through home-generated electricity using solar photovoltaic (PV) panels.
   
2. Passive heating and cooling due to good insulation and draft proofing that enables owners to get the heat and cold out.
   
3. High energy efficiency, which means they require very little energy to run the home systems due to installation of efficient electric appliances.

What are the benefits of an Energy Freedom Home?

1. Lower risk: You'll reduce your exposure to risk from increasing gas and electricity prices and any future energy crisis^{1 2}.
   
2. Reduced energy bills: A more energy-efficient home and free power from your solar panels will make a big dent in your energy bills^{3 4}.
   
3. Increased home equity: Energy Freedom Home upgrades are proven to increase the value of homes by 24% as a national average⁵.
   
4. Helping everyone: You'll reduce demand on the national grid, which will have a positive impact on the cost of electricity supply and will positively impact everyone's electricity bills⁶.
   
5. Helping climate: You'll be significantly reducing the carbon emissions from your home and having a positive impact on climate change⁷.
   
6. Phasing out fossil fuels: You'll be reducing demand for fossil fuels by cutting direct gas supply to your home, and reducing your reliance on coal and gas generated electricity through the national grid.

1. No planning permission required: All the changes required to achieve an Energy Freedom Home are retrofits, meaning you won't need to apply for planning permission or go through any expensive or painful administration with your local council.
   
2. Access free money: There are a range of national, state and council rebates and subsidies encouraging homeowners to achieve Energy Freedom.

What are the downsides to an Energy Freedom Home? 

1. No solar? Short term risk: If you can't install solar panels at home you'll be at the mercy of rising electricity prices from the national grid. The price of electricity will decrease in the medium term as more cheaper renewable energy supply is brought online, but prices are set to increase over the next couple of years¹.
   
2. Who turned out the lights? An Energy Freedom Home is an electric home. While blackouts of any extended length are rare, when there is a blackout you might need to eat salads for dinner or get take away. The risk of black outs will reduce over time as there are plans to stabilise the grid in the medium term, alongside the introduction of better subsidies and falling prices for home batteries⁴.
   
3. Cowboys ahoy: The electrical, plumbing and solar industries are riddled with "fly-by-night" cowboys who want to sell a low quality product and have no interest in providing service support over the long term. You'll need to carefully choose suppliers with a proven track record.
   
4. Information overload: Researching your options for Energy Freedom outcomes is tricky. A lot of plumbers and electricians who have been operating for years haven't kept their knowledge up to date and will only be interested in selling and installing the same products that they are used to. Add to the mix a fossil fuel industry with a proven track record of misleading consumers⁸ and well-meaning but confusing sustainability experts, and you'll find yourself sifting through a lot of conflicting opinions and information that will often add friction to your journey.
   
5. The right thing to do is changing: The industry is moving fast. Systems, products, subsidies and rebates are all changing at a rate that makes advice and guidance age quickly. You'll need to make sure your research uses up to date sources.
   
6. Coordination: Individual upgrades may not be complicated, but there's a lot to get your head around. There are multiple different types of upgrades required to achieve Energy Freedom. You'll spend a lot of time figuring out the steps, researching, vetting suppliers and coordinating different upgrades.
   
7. Up front cost: There are big cost savings to be had with Energy Freedom Homes, but you'll need to pay for the upgrades. Even if you're on the ball finding and claiming rebates, there will still be an up-front cash sum that you'll need to pay unless you've got access to affordable credit and the financial stability to make regular repayments.

...and what about Energy Freedom Homes?

1. Up to date, relevant information to help you understand what you need and make quick decisions.
   
2. A streamlined system to design your personalised roadmap to Energy Freedom, using market-leading products and identifying relevant rebates and affordable finance options to bring down up-front costs.
   
3. Working relationships with Trusted Tradies who have a proven track record, are cost-competitive, understand Energy Freedom and install and service reliable products.

In summary

Next steps

References