At Powerpal we believe strongly in the power of small changes at scale to act as a power for good.
As an example, if every household in Victoria could reduce their home’s energy consumption by just 10% this would be the equivalent impact on emissions of taking 2.5 million cars off our roads. At Powerpal our mission is to help households to identify the small changes they can take to make this happen. Every home that joins the Powerpal community and uses the Powerpal app to eliminate energy waste in their home is reducing CO2 emissions, eliminating the need for over investment in Australia’s energy system — and of course saving on their personal energy bills!
We’re therefore delighted to support this year’s Earth Hour initiative. Every year, the hour of no power turns individuals, schools, businesses and communities into a millions-strong movement, and it’s never been a more important time to make the switch.
This Saturday 27th March we’re challenging the Powerpal community to join millions of homes around the world to reduce their power consumption for one hour between 8:30pm and 9:30pm… simply unplug, switch off and power down!
We hope you’ll join us, and if you’re keen to get involved here are our top tips for homes looking to power down during earth hour:
1. Switch off the lights!
It’s a given, but the easiest thing you can do during Earth Hour is to #SwitchOff the lights at 8.30pm — your local time. It’s the perfect opportunity to slow down from the busy bustle of life and spend some quality time with those most important to you.
2. Become a vampire slayer
Use the Powerpal app to see just how low your home’s energy use can go during earth hour. Search out any vampire appliances that may still be sucking power even though they’re switched off — and give them the flick at the mains socket.
3. Move to battery power
In Australia more than 20% of homes now have solar power (and South Australia was briefly powered by 100% solar power earlier this year — a world first!). However, very few homes have installed solar batteries, and as a result we’re still hugely dependant on fossil fuels to deliver our power after dark. But reducing your energy consumption during earth hour doesn’t have to mean a return to the dark ages. Power up your torches, solar lights and mobile devices to stay comfortable while you power down — and check in with earth hour live to connect with others in the community doing the same.
4. Spread the word!
Once you’re fully powered down snap a screen shot of the Powerpal app and share with friends and family on social media with the hashtag #SwitchOff. We can’t wait to see how low your usage can go!
For more details about the Earth Hour initiative visit https://www.earthhour.org.au/.
