Caroline’s story
Caroline is a climate advocate and Electrify Boroondara volunteer with a professional background in finance and social enterprise. She lives in a three-story, 18-year-old, apartment complex in Kew with her one-year-old English Staffy
Why are you electrifying your home?
I want to do my part to reduce climate change and it gives me peace of mind I am doing that incrementally as I can afford it. Also, I think of my property as an investment. Hopefully I will be able to sell my apartment for a higher price because it has energy efficiency features that contribute to having more a comfortable life.
The journey so far
My unit has two bedrooms, two bathrooms and two balconies. I bought it in 2022 so I’ve lived here for almost two years. It’s my first experience being part of an Owners Corporation (OC).
Luckily, the unit was in good shape. The dishwasher was pretty new, but some of the other appliances such as the air conditioners and the hot water system were over 10 years old. Those are the ones I wanted to replace first.
The windows are single glazed with aluminium frames, which is not good for insulation or energy efficiency and there are condensation issues. It had a gas stove and one of the bedrooms didn't have any heating or cooling.
I started by installing a new reverse cycle air conditioner in the living/dining area. Then I switched the gas cooktop to induction. The oven was already electric. I have now turned off my individual gas connection, but I am still paying for gas to be connected to the building through the OC.
In 2022, I became aware of the Victorian energy upgrades deal on water heaters and was able to get a new heat pump hot water system for free because mine was more than 10 years old.
Last year I put a new reverse cycle air conditioner in the master bedroom and one in the second bedroom. They heat and cool the rooms very quickly and I can now use the second bedroom as a guest room and office. I couldn’t use it much before because it was always too hot or too cold.
I bought an EV before I lived here when I was a renter and having a year and a half without my own charger was rough. In 2022 I put an EV charger in my car space.
The EV charger has made a huge difference in my life - I really love having that. I don’t have to worry about charging, sitting in car parks or waiting in line for a charger.
I charge my car about once a week and my app says I spent $232 on charging for 2023. The app has a timer, so I schedule charging during off peak hours from 12am to 8am.
Electrification wish list
I've been looking into getting double glazed windows and doors. It's really challenging picking suppliers and installers and figuring out who to trust. I need to save up and balance it with other needs because I know it'll be expensive.
I'm also working on getting shared rooftop solar on my building. My OC agreed to undertake a feasibility study so we're considering the results now. We'll need to present it to the residents and get 75% agreement. It’s a slow-moving process.
I’m really excited about having solar panels generating free electricity to power my apartment and EV. I’m researching and building relationships to address concerns and questions in person before we have the OC AGM. Hopefully it will come to fruition.
What advice would you give to other apartment owners in Boroondara?
I try to anticipate what other owner’s pain points might be and provide information to diffuse that upfront. With my EV charger, I gave the OC a lot of information saying it will be at my expense, there's space on the switchboard and it will connect directly to my meter, so it won't affect anyone else.
I recommend doing your research incrementally so you can learn about energy efficiency and electrification over time. You need to look past the advertising at different sources of information and make your own determination on what’s best for you.