Has anyone in Queensland taken up the QLD Government's offer for Climate Smart Home Service? We decided to give it a shot and the installer came last weekend (on Sunday of all days!) to put it all in. For anyone who doesn't know (or in other states) for $50 you get a wireless energy monitor, shower head & a dozen or so of those CFL bulbs. Not bad value I think. The monitor must cost about $100 just to buy them from a shop by themselves.

Interesting stuff too using that wireless energy monitor and actually seeing how much power is currently being used in the house. You can set your power cost based on your electricity bill too so it shows you exactly how much an hour the power is costing you. It keeps a running history too of how much power you have used in the day, week & month. I think it's a pretty handy tool to try and keep the power bills down - we have had some horrendous ones lately, especially over summer! You simply turn appliances or lights (or whatever) on and off and see the fluctuation in the kW/hr and $/hr being used.

I'll take it down to the workshop on the weekend and try out numerous machines and tools - always been interested in how much power they chew through