Getting off gas: Will it help you beat the energy price crisis?

A decade ago, gas was a cheap and plentiful source of fuel, especially for Victorians in winter.

In 2024 it is no longer cheap and the Australian Energy Market Operator is issuing regular warnings domestic supply will run out in the eastern states.

But many people ACM spoke to said they were too daunted to get off gas.

So, how hard is it, and will it save you money?

Getting off gas is much easier than many people think, according to energy consultant Tim Forcey.

"It's really not that hard, and there's tremendous opportunity to save on your energy bills," he said.

Mr Forcey has turned a decade of academic research and consultancy into the book My Efficient Electric Home Handbook, released in June.

He said there were three key steps: changing your heating, changing your cooking, and changing your hot water.

Heating was by far the easiest, because many people already owned the equipment necessary to quit gas heating for good.

Every reverse-cycle air conditioner is also a heater, but Mr Forcey said many of his clients had no idea.

"Honestly, the biggest obstacle to getting off gas is people not knowing they can use their air conditioners to heat their homes," he said.

"Back in 2015 when I was doing research at the University of Melbourne we worked out that it was a third the cost to heat with an air conditioner instead of using gas.

"I've seen people in homes where they're paying $10, $20, $25 a day on gas, whereas there are houses heated with a couple of air conditioners where even on the coldest day it would be hard to spend more than $1.50."

Reverse-cycle air conditioners use a refrigerant system to suck heat out of the air and pump it outside, but they can also suck the heat from the outside air and pump it into your home.

"It's free heat, which is pretty cool," Mr Forcey said.

Many people will already own an air conditioner, but a new unit can cost about $2000, including installation.

The best way to electrify your stovetop cooking was to switch to induction, Mr Forcey said.

Induction technology uses electromagnetic energy to turn your steel or cast iron pans into mini cooktops.

"It's much more efficient than gas and much cheaper to run," Mr Forcey said.

"There are portable induction cooktops you can buy for $75 and plug straight into the wall, no electrician required."

Making the switch is also a healthy move, especially for asthma sufferers.

A growing body of evidence shows gas cooking pollutes our kitchens with harmful nitrogen dioxide gas at five times the recommended levels.

Even with a strong extractor fan and windows open, gas levels still surge past the suggested threshold.

Switching away from gas hot water is probably the trickiest part of getting off gas, Mr Forcey said.

"What you're looking for is a heat pump system," he said.

"It's using the same technology as your reverse-cycle air conditioner, but using it to heat your water. So again, it's free heat."

But the units themselves can be expensive, costing anywhere between $750 and $5000, not including installation.

Mr Forcey said there was government support to help with the cost.

"The government has $2000 worth of rebates that people can access if they're getting their electric or gas hot water service moved over to a heat pump, so that makes it pretty economical," he said.

Electricity prices have also shot up in recent years, which Mr Forcey said had stopped some people switching from gas.

But Mr Forcey said the efficiency of the latest electrical heating, cooking and hot water technology meant it was still "much cheaper" to operate than gas.

"Then there's the opportunity of home solar," he said.

Australia has the highest use of home solar in the world, with one in five homes installing photovoltaic panels on their roofs.

Mr Forcey said an all electric house with a decent solar array and a battery (or an electric car, which functions as a battery) could reduce its power costs to zero.

"My winter heating literally costs me nothing these days," he said.

"All the appliances we've invested in - the air conditioners, the cooktop, the heat pump - have more than paid for themselves by now."

One trap for people getting off gas is whether to disconnect or abolish their connection.

Disconnecting is simple and just involves someone coming out to do a final meter read and shutting off the supply.

It costs between $60-$80 in Victoria, $134.50 in NSW, $170 in ACT and $110 in Tasmania.

Abolishment means shutting off the system and ripping out the pipes connecting the house to the mains.

In Victoria it's not much more expensive at $220, but in NSW it costs $1381.60, not including any extra plumbing or building costs.

In Tasmania the standard abolishment fee is $292, but $720 if performed after hours, which can be requested by the gas retailer. In ACT the fee is $870.

In many cases the abolishment fee is what the gas company quotes when people ring up to disconnect their gas, with some people opting not to disconnect because of the cost.

"These companies are kind of disappointed to see their business dry up, so they're saying 'you want to get off gas? Right, well we're going to sting you for $1500'," Mr Forcey said.

"It's important people know they don't have to pay anywhere near that amount to disconnect.

"In any case, you pay like a dollar a day just to be connected to the gas grid and those charges are only going to get higher as more people disconnect from the grid. The time to get out is now."