Council on the Ageing (COTA) Queensland’s popular Energy4Seniors webinar series is helping older Queenslanders take charge of their household energy use. The latest session, Home Energy Audits, featured renowned engineer Dr Clyde Anderson, who broke down complex technical advice into clear, everyday strategies for cutting costs.
Dr Anderson’s credentials are impressive. After completing his PhD in heat transfer and supersonics at the University of Queensland in 1989, he went on to become a Registered Professional Engineer in Queensland and a Chartered Professional Engineer listed on the National Engineers Register. Since 1999, he has run a successful energy efficiency consultancy. In this webinar, his focus was on Queensland seniors’ houses.
Why Energy Efficiency Matters for Seniors
With electricity prices continuing to fluctuate, many older Australians live on fixed incomes or pensions, meaning every extra dollar on a bill can make a difference. Dr Anderson emphasised efficient energy use isn’t just about sustainability—it’s about real economic relief. Energy4Seniors program strikes a balance between ecological responsibility and financial practicality.
From Bills to Appliances: Where to Begin
Dr Anderson encouraged participants to start with a simple energy audit via a specially prepared worksheet, noting how many people live in the home, checking daily kilowatt usage, and estimating how much power is being used. “The more kilowatts you use for longer hours, the more your bill rises,” he explained, highlighting how awareness is the first step toward control.
The next step is to look closer at appliances, locating the rating label on the back or side of each appliance—usually contains the watts or kilowatts rating and by knowing how much energy each appliance consumes, households can identify which items contribute most to their bills.
Cutting Costs the Smart Way
The golden rule, Dr Anderson said, is simple: the cheapest power is the power you don’t use. That might mean repositioning switches to make it easier to turn appliances off when not in use, combining several devices on a single power board, or staggering the use of high-power appliances instead of running them all at once.
For seniors, these strategies can quickly add up—not just to smaller bills, but also to a greater sense of control over household living costs.
Making Energy Savings Accessible
What stood out most in Dr Anderson’s presentation was that his clear, practical advice was designed to help older Queenslanders live comfortably while reducing reduce costs.
The full webinar is free and available online for seniors and their families to watch anytime: https://youtu.be/jVE_yxxvYHA?si=Cd21GDTgQuPumy_3.
Energy4Seniors offers valuable tools and expert insights, which you can find at www.cotaqld.org.au/energy4seniors.
What’s Next
The Energy4Seniors series continues next month with Smart Meters: Myths & Facts, helping seniors separate truth from fiction about this new technology.
