Switch to electric heat pump heating and avoid freezing with gas

Victoria has a gas problem. Happily, Victorians can save a lot of money by getting their homes off gas.

I used to work in the fossil gas industry. I’d board a helicopter in Sale and fly to the oil and gas platforms out in the Bass Strait. Those massive hydrocarbon reservoirs were discovered starting in the late 1960’s. The explorers looked down and thought “there’s enough gas here to run an entire state for the next sixty years”. That was fifty-six years ago.

Victorian production of fossil gas is on its last legs. There have been no big finds in decades. Yes, there was a recent announcement that the Victorian government approved some further drilling by Beach Energy in the Otway Basin. But it’s rats and mice really. When that project comes on stream, the Beach Energy project will be able to supply about 2 per cent of Victoria’s traditional gas demand.

If we Victorians continue to burn gas at the rate we’ve become accustomed to over the last 56 years, the gas we burn will be coming from farther and farther away.

It will be coal seam gas coming down the pipelines from Queensland. It will be liquefied gas carried by ship into Geelong that might even come from Russia – who knows? What we do know is that cheap Victorian gas is long gone.

More fossil gas coming into production anywhere on our Earth means more global climate catastrophe. Far away, people are dying in 53°C heat.

Closer to home, our ski fields are scant and our coastlines crumble. So it’s a good thing that the Victorian fossil gas industry is winding down.

But I understand if, this month, planetary collapse isn’t on your household’s radar. What’s on people’s radar is the cost of living. I’ve been in homes where they’re spending $25 per day on gas heating.

Why am I in those homes? To let people in on a secret. You can heat your home with a reverse-cycle air conditioner for around one-third the cost of burning gas. If those homes already have an air con, they can start saving more than $15 per day, immediately.

And if your home is poorly insulated and draughty, there can be other low-cost fixes to reduce your heating bill by even more.

As one example, in our large-ish 1903 but now all-electric weatherboard, we never spend more than $1.50 per day to stay warm. We do it by running the air conditioner. And we are not the only ones.

From social media, I know there are thousands of households across Victoria that have made the switch to becoming comfortable all-electric homes saving thousands of dollars each winter.

Find your air con remote control, push the HEAT button, and start saving.

Air cons are heat pumps. Around 80% of the heat they bring into a home is free renewable heat that is collected from outside your home. Heat pumps may be mysterious, but the gas industry simply can’t compete with free heat.

Recently the Victorian government announced that rental properties will need to have air conditioners. Much of the subsequent commentary was about whether people should toughen up and go without air cons in summer. Few were pointing out that the main benefit of air con is that it can be the cheapest way to get through a Victorian winter.

Gas is a planet-wrecking fossil fuel. And it’s too expensive to burn. And there was always the chance it could poison you or cause a fire or explosion in your home. But wait, there’s more!

Because gas is coming to Victoria from farther and farther away, the authorities warn that an unexpected, yet credible supply disruption could lead to gas supplies being curtailed a mere six hours later.

In this event, Victorians will be urgently asked to voluntarily cut back on gas burning, industry will be asked to shut down, and then even more drastic steps may be needed.

Rather than waking up to a gas-led big freeze, we have an attractive option. We can get our homes off gas, be safer, healthier and more comfortable, and ease our cost of living.

Tim Forcey is a former oil and gas engineer and author of the new book “My Efficient Electric Home Handbook” published by Murdoch Books.