South Australian home owners are being urged to make the switch to solar hot water from Solahart Industries now while current environmental incentives make installation cheaper, as the reality of new laws phasing out electric water heaters sinks in. the State Government announced a phase-out of greenhouse intensive hot water systems. According to Solahart Industries Pty Ltd, however, many South Australians are still in the dark about what the new laws mean.
In July 2008, South Australia became the first Australian state to enforce the phasing out of electric water heaters. Under South Australian regulations, many replacement water heater installations in existing homes in metropolitan and near surrounding areas need to be either high efficiency gas, solar or electric heat pump systems. The change will offer many benefits, including substantially reducing greenhouse gas emissions while also reducing the average household’s water heating energy use by up to 50% to 70% a year. Solar water heating is the best answer for people wanting to do their bit for the environment while also saving money on energy bills.
Mr Cranch, national manager for Solahart said the regulations come at an opportune time because current environmental incentives available for solar hot water systems make installations
much cheaper, but warned residents to get in quickly.
“This is a great time to go solar. Right now the generous Federal Government rebate will provide South Australian home-owners with $1,000 back on a Solahart water heater when replacing an electric storage water heater. The state government is also offering a further $500 rebate to Centrelink concession card holders. On top of this over $1,000 is available in Renewable Energy Certificates for the same Solahart system,” Mr Cranch said.
The phase-out will apply in all States and Territories. Exemptions to the program are still under investigation.
