Emma Lynas felt “lucky” and “excited” when she bought in North Melbourne, but now feels deflated.
Key points:
- Victorian homes built since 1990 rate just 3 out of 10 for sustainability on average
- Demand for services to make homes more energy efficient has skyrocketed in the past three years
- The government is investing millions in rebates and programs to showcase energy efficient housing
“It’s just frustrating,” she said.
“We scored 1.6 stars out of 10. That’s bad.”
With that low rating in mind, Ms Lynas borrowed more than she needed for environmental renovations.
But the mother of one was shocked by the prices.
“I had this dream of getting off gas, and now you can get electric hydronic heating,” she said.
“Got a local company, and rough quote, it’s $30,000. So yeah, we won’t be doing that.
“Pretty deflating.”
Ms Lynas’ two-bedroom townhouse in North Melbourne is one of 1.6 million Victorian houses built before 1990.
On average, Victorian homes built after 1990 rate just 3 stars out of 10 for sustainability.
Danielle King says Victorians are increasingly looking to make their homes more energy efficient.(ABC News: Iskhandar Razak)
Danielle King makes a living helping Victorian homes and business reduce their carbon footprint and said the costs can deter many.
“Demand for our services has spiked up over 450 per cent in the last three years,” she said.
But Ms King said doing nothing comes with its own cost, and urged people to do what they can.
“We literally do, a lot of us, live in tents,” she said.
“It can create not only high energy bills, but health problems.”
<h2 class="_1EAJU hMmqO SYcM3 zwVFG _1BqKa _3AExf _3HiTE x9R1x pDrMR hmFfs _390V1" …….