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The energy sector (specifically the burning of fossil fuels to produce energy), is the largest contributor to Australia’s carbon emissions. We need to transition away from fossil fuels asap – and one key step in that transition, is to electrify our cities, workplaces and our homes. For homeowners, switching to electric home appliances, heating and cooling systems, and hot water services is a great place to start – but… how!?
Originally a sparky by trade, Goodbye Gas founder Ben Russell has been in ‘the business of electricity’ for more than 10 years. He started BREC (an electrical contracting business) and BREC Energy (a solar and battery business) and could see that the biggest problem with convincing people to get off gas systems, was simply juggling all the moving parts.
‘I knew it wasn’t that hard, all you need is people who know what they’re doing to coordinate it for you,’ Ben says. And for the past year his business has been doing exactly that – helping households across Victoria transition to an all-electric home, ideally, powered by the sun.
Goodbye Gas is made up of a network of sustainability experts and trade professionals, including former Breathe architect-turned-Goodbye Gas head of operations Marcella Palma.
The team identifies all the gas appliances in a client’s home through a home visit, and develops an ‘electrification’ plan, complete with a quote for each item. Tackling everything from cooktops, hot water systems, heating, and cooling, to installing solar, batteries and electric vehicle charges, they can retrofit existing homes, or work alongside your architect, designer or builder to make sure your new property gets the best appliances available.
‘Step-by-step we coordinate the trades and appliance purchase for each item. Then we help you abolish your gas connection,’ Marcella adds. ‘We do all the hard parts for you.’
‘We can usually get a heat pump installed in after a few days from getting in touch with us. Same goes for a cooktop! In most cases we’re in and out in under a day.’
But that doesn’t mean you have to do it all overnight. For Ben and his team, it’s all about ‘progress over perfection’ on their mission to electrify Australia. So, for some of their clients – electrification might mean taking small steps now, with a concrete plan to transition their home over the next few years, as the life cycle of their existing appliances comes to an end.
Whilst there is inevitably an up-front investment involved in making these sort of upgrades – it’s worth noting that going all-electric brings with it some significant savings. Rewiring Australia estimates the cost of running an average household on gas alone is about $5,300 per year, while it costs just $1,850 per year 100% electric.
‘You can further increase potential savings by powering those electric appliances with the cheapest form of electricity… solar,’ Ben says. ‘And we can help you with that!’
Goodbye Gas have big plans to go national later this year – and with their passion, purpose and unique expertise, we’re predicting big things for this forward-thinking Melbourne start-up!
