Successes

Roof insulation for the win

One of the first improvements the Gittus household took to reduce their energy use was to pump roofing insulation into their cathedral ceilings over their main living and dining areas. This had an immediate result. According to Ian, “there was a massive change in the comfort of our home. The rooms were cooler in summer and warmer in winter. It reduced [our] heating and cooling expenses by a significant amount”. In fact, Mandy noticed that with the new insulation, the family hardly needed to use fans.

Paving the way for a vehicle-to-grid solution

Ian considers himself an early adopter, which proved true when he started investigating vehicle-to-grid technology as a solution for powering the home.

During the challenge, Ian upgraded his Nissan Leaf electric vehicle to a newer model equipped with a two-way battery charger so energy can flow both in and out of the car.

While the solution is not yet operational, the idea is the vehicle battery is charged during the day from his newly installed 24kW solar system and in the evening it will help power his home. This impressive, renewable solution will support the household’s transport and electricity needs.

Challenges

Reducing food waste with a busy schedule

With renovations, full-time work and a busy schedule, the Gittus family were less successful at reducing food waste than they would have liked. As Mandy and Ian had a lot going on, they could not always plan meals and often had leftovers, which was good news for the family’s “well-fed [backyard] chickens”.

Although they started the challenge with waste emissions slightly over the Brisbane average, the household managed to reduce this emission source by 29% despite the setbacks, which encouraged them to continue working on their waste emissions reduction.