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Electricity Bills go through the roof!

It's a fact, Australia now has some of the highest prices of electricity in the world, we are now paying 130% MORE than the Canadians for their electricity...

Although the really sad fact for the long suffering public, is that this is only the start. We have the full effect of the ill conceived Carbon Tax to deal with next, which could push the prices even higher.

Strange thing is I seem to remember the government saying the Carbon Tax would only cause a slight increase in prices - seems slight is somewhat subjective!

Now given this coming down the pipeline, we must remember that nearly everything in our society depends on electricity in one way or another - yes, you have guessed it, be also prepared for a round of truly frightening increases across the board.

So what can you do? Well the first thing to do is shop around for your electricity supplier. Although be very wary of 'lock in' contracts and short term discounting designed to get you to sign up. Also double check that the companies are for real...

Next try to work out what your 'big ticket' items are in your house that are consuming the most power when it is the most expensive. Look for things like heaters, A/C, etc. Also double check all the timers and on/off control gadgets to make sure they are shifting the power consumption to when it is cheaper. Daylight Saving can play havoc with this, so go and check and confirm.

Next if you have a requirement for heating, make sure you are only heating the part of the house you need to be in; do not bother heating rooms you do not use. This could be as simple as closing doors and putting draught excluders in on the closed doors. Also check for draughts on external doors and windows and deal with them.

Next check the rating of the light bulbs in your property and swap to slightly lower or halogen. Do not buy compact fluro lights - they contain mercury, not very nice at all.

What else can I do?

If you haven't already look into solar hot water heating if you do not have it. These systems are quite efficient and cheap to run and very reliable.

In the rooms which you use the most, consider putting 'solar film' on the windows to improve their insulation level. Also consider a full curtain and pelmet to cut the air cycling across the window right down.

Also if you find the whole situation just totally mind blowing (in that you cannot see the reason why the price has shot up and equally think the Carbon Tax is nuts) - we ask that at the next election you cast your vote with extreme care. Also contact your sitting member of parliament stating exactly what you think of the current situation and what you want changed.