Household reports
Analysis: Household energy upgrades would slash the cost of living by billions per annum
Year - 2025 Partner - Renew Australia for All
Our analysis reveals the average Australian household is losing between $1052 - $3039 per year, due to a lack of access to readily available energy-efficient upgrades like solar and home insulation.
Our work Includes a breakdown of the top five electorates in each state and territory that will benefit most, the analysis charts a policy path for the cleanest, fastest solution to help millions of Australian households slash their power bills.
Over 4 million Australian households are already slashing their power bills in half due to the installation of solar panels, however, 7 million households do not have solar.
This analysis shows the collective annual saving in helping the more than 7 million Australian homes get energy efficient installations is up to a staggering $23 billion a year.
Key findings (shown as average annual savings per household and national savings annually if all households upgraded)
Thermal and electrification upgrades :
$1,579 per household, per annum and $14.5 billion, total per annum national household savings
Installing rooftop solar:
$1052 per household, per annum and $5.5 billion collectively per annum
Upgrading to solar and batteries:
$1,459 per household, per annum and $9.1 billion collectively per annum across Australia.
Upgrading to solar and batteries plus ‘quick fix’ thermal upgrades, including efficient electric heat pump, hot water heating and cooking :
$3039 per household, per annum
The benefits of home energy upgrades - Efficiency, electrification, and solar could save low-income households up to $6000
Year - 2024 Partner - Australian Council of Social Service
Most Australian homes are too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter, and expensive to run. Our homes are not built to withstand more extreme temperatures and people on low incomes and renters are too often living in homes that reach over 45 degrees indoors in the summer, have been hospitalised due to heat stress, and forced to go without food or medical care to pay their energy bills to stay cool.
Governments need to step in and directly invest in home energy upgrades of low-income housing to improve the energy performance of homes to reduce costs and make them climate safe. Simple measures like better insulation, draught reduction, window shades, and solar panels, could reduce emissions, make these homes healthier to live in and drastically reduce the cost of energy bills.
Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) commissioned Springmount Advisory to research and demonstrate the possible benefits for energy bill reduction and emissions reduction of prioritising home energy upgrades for low-income housing. The maps reveal:
how much households could save a year (thousands of dollars), from quick-fix home energy upgrades
the accumulative bills savings to the electorate if all low-income housing in that electorate received quick-fix home energy upgrades
emissions reductions that could be achieved
number of jobs that could be created from the manufacturing, supply and installation of home energy upgrades.
Visit the ACOSS Benefits of home energy upgrades webpage to explore maps which show:
Benefits of investment in energy efficiency and electrification for households in the bottom 20% by income
Benefits of investment in solar for households in the bottom 20% by income
Benefits of investment in energy efficiency and electrification for social housing units
Benefits of investment in solar for social housing units