April 2018 Newsletter

Hi. I hope you had a wonderful Easter break.

With so many customers embracing apartment living, this month I’ve devoted the newsletter to sharing ideas and energy-saving tips for your apartment and common areas of your strata.

You can rely on Ku-ring-gai Electrical for all your home and office wiring needs. If you’d like some help call 0418 442 578 or email info@kuring.com.au.

Cheers,

Matt Cox

Enhancing apartment living

Customers often ask me if they can install air conditioning in their apartment. The short answer is ‘yes, you can’. But how you do it depends on the building.

The best place to start is with your strata manager or body corporate. They’ll let you know what’s possible and what isn’t, both practically and aesthetically.

In some strata complexes, the building may be unable to cope with the energy load from individual apartment air conditioning units. But there’s still a solution.

We can install an air conditioner that runs off your existing power circuit, which eliminates the need to affect the main switchboard. Some restrictions exist. For example, you can only install a small system to cool or heat one room.

Another consideration when you live in an apartment is whether you can access off-peak hot water. The good news is, we can help with this too.

If your water heater is located in your apartment, we can fit a timer that will turn it off at set times chosen by you. This will ensure you’re not paying for water to be heated when you don’t need it.

To explore your air conditioning or hot water heating options call 0418 442 578 or info@kuring.com.au 

3 ways to reduce your strata power bill

In recent years, the combination of higher electricity prices and greater awareness about climate change has made us all more conscious of our energy use.

This is particularly relevant in apartment buildings and office blocks where there are common areas that need lighting, heating, cooling and ventilation.

So, whether you live in a high-rise apartment or you run a business out of an office block, here are 3 tips to consider for reducing the power bills in your building.

1. Install energy-efficient light globes throughout the building
   According to Choice, some LED globes can last more than 8 years before they need replacing, based on five hours’ usage per day. The energy savings are significant which means your power bills will go down, cancelling out the cost of switching to energy-efficient globes.

One strata scheme I know had a common area lighting bill of over $25,000 per year. They looked at changing energy providers etc. but couldn’t reduce the bill. Eight years later, their power bill has decreased to under $9000 a year by gradually updating lights to more energy efficient versions and swapping to LED globes.

2. Attach motion sensors to infrequently used common areas
   Apartment buildings are required by law to have safety lighting throughout all common areas. However, there are some areas such as garbage rooms that do not require lighting 24/7.

If you fit motion sensors to these lights, it means they will automatically turn off after a period of time without movement – saving the whole strata scheme money. Motion sensors are also effective in the bathrooms of offices, warehouses and factories as they reduce unnecessary power usage but can easily be triggered to turn on when the door opens.
 

3. Ensure your building’s rubbish room has an energy efficient exhaust fan
   Taking your rubbish into an airless, stinky garbage room can be pretty unpleasant without an exhaust fan to remove odours and help with ventilation. But running it 24/7 can be costly. Installing an energy-efficient fan will help keep the air fresh and the power use down. 

The team at Ku-ring-gai Electrical can help you or your strata manager reduce common area power bills while ensuring your building remains compliant. Simply call 0418 442 578 or email info@kuring.com.au

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