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» The McSweeneys
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» The Bettenay Fletchers
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» The McKinney Lelliots
The Barrie Family
In this episode we meet the Barrie family. They think they're doing OK at saving energy, but they're in for a rude shock.
Through a number of home improvements such as changing light globes, the Carbon Cops drastically improve the energy efficiency of the Barrie family home.
Family members commit to changing their behaviour to use less energy- they catch public transport, turn off appliances at the wall and compost. The kids also help out by joining a walking school group to walk to and from school. The family then went one step further, offsetting their remaining carbon emissions and switching to GreenPower.
Through their combined efforts the Barrie family reduced their carbon emissions from 62 tonnes to 36 tonnes per year with an annual saving on their bills of $7000. They then made the commitment to become carbon neutral.
So how did they do it?
The Barries ended the challenge with 32 tonnes per year, but then opted to become carbon neutral by offsetting their household emissions through Greenfleet and switching to Greenpower. GreenPower is an easy way to reduce your carbon emissions. By choosing GreenPower, power to your home is sourced from renewable sources.
The family also composted all of their food and garden waste.
Find out more about how you have the power to save energy just like the Barries did at the ResourceSmart website.
Episode Two - The McSweeney Glenwright family 
Verne Glenwright and Jacqie McSweeny live with their three children in a large Cape Cod style house in Woodend. Verne sees himself as a bit of greenie and is always reminding the family about saving energy. Despite this, their energy bills are huge.
The Carbon Cops quickly get to work installing a solar hot system, improving the air circulation in the house and affixing double glazing on large glass windows in an effort to reduce the household's energy use.
The McSweeny Glenwright family accept the Cops' challenge to change their ways and rediscover their bikes, hang the washing on the clothes line instead of using the dryer, take shorter showers and turn off appliances at the wall.
With help from the Carbon Cops, the McSweeney Glenwright family reduced their carbon emissions from 48 tonnes to 17 tonnes per year - that's an annual saving of $7600 on their bills.
So how did they did they do it?
The largest greenhouse gas and dollar savings for this family was the installation of a solar hot water booster to their existing hot water system. Victorian households may be eligible for a Victorian Government or Commonwealth rebate by installing a solar hot water system.
Read more about solar hot water and information on installing a solar hot water system at the ResourceSmart website.
The carbon cops also modified the air circulation system in the house, taking advantage of the natural air circulation to heat and cool the home. Find out more about energy-efficient ways to heat your house at the Your Home website.
Episode Three - The Students
Gemma, Vicky and AJ are students sharing a house in suburban Melbourne. As the students' money is tight and they don't feel there is too much they can do to save energy in their rented home.
The Carbon Cops arrive armed with home improvements, they install curtains and pelmet boxes, covering old air vents and affixing do-it-yourself double glazing, proving that you don't have to own the house to make a difference to the emissions from your home.
The Cops set the students an additional challenge - transporting them to 2050, when non-renewable resources are scarce. The housemates must go without anything sourced from oil - including petrochemicals in common health and beauty products and anything made from plastic.
They also started to shop locally, saving further emissions from buying food with low food miles - food grown locally does not have to travel as far to market.
Gemma, Vicky and AJ cut their emissions from 19 tonnes to just 9 tonnes per year, reducing emissions from cars by 30%, electricity by 49% and gas by 70% - that's an annual saving of $1000.
So how can you save energy in a rental property?
Shopping locally drastically reduced the food miles from the housemates' food - their food was grown locally. Shopping locally and buying locally grown produce is one of the many sustainable shopping tips that can greatly reduce your carbon emissions - find out more about sustainable shopping.
The housemates also had a significant impact on their household greenhouse gas emissions through small changes in behaviour and appliance use. The Carbon Cops explained how much energy appliances use - understanding appliances and how to read your energy bills is a good place to start.
The Cops sealed vents and installed curtains and pelmet boxes to keep the home warm in winter. Find out how you can get your home ready for winter and save on your heating bills at the Your Home website.
Episode Four - The Bettenay and Fletcher families 
Meet the Bettany and Fletcher families and their six fridges and eight televisions...
The Bettenay and Fletcher families are sharing a rented house in suburban Melbourne while they build two new homes. They thought sharing would save them money, but their energy bills are enormous.
With help from the Cops, the Bettenay and Fletchers families start to change their energy using ways - turning off lights at the wall, car pooling, unplugging unused fridges, and selling gadgets and appliances that they don't need any longer. The Cops take a closer look at the plans for their new homes and with the help of a green architect, investigate how the families can build six-star energy rated homes.
By changing their behaviour, these families reduced their carbon emissions from 95 tonnes to 44 tonnes per year with an annual saving of $10,000 on their bills.
So how did they do it?
The Bettenay and Fletcher families planned for the future by consulting a green architect on the construction of their new energy smart homes. The new plans reduced the footprint of the house without reducing the living spaces or bedrooms. The families will still have the features they want, but their homes will cost less to heat and cool.
Find out more about how you can make your home energy smart at the Your Home website.
Episode Five - The Lane Family
In this Carbon Cops episode we meet the Lane family - Mum, Dad and four grown up children living in suburban Melbourne. Mum is concerned about the environment, but Dad is a bit of a sceptic. With four grown up children at home, their energy bills are huge and it's time to seek help.
The Carbon Cops arrived and got to work making the Lane's home more energy efficient. They replaced the old fridge and washing machine with energy efficient ones, fitted a pool cover, sealed draughts and converted an old cupboard into a solar powered drying room. The family also changed their lifestyle - walking instead of driving, turning appliances off standby, watching TV and eating together (rather than at different times) - with small steps that had an enormous impact on their energy consumption.
With these changes, the Lane family reduced their carbon emissions from 72 tonnes to 18 tonnes per year with an annual saving on their bills of $10,000.
So how did they do it?
The Carbon Cops purchased more energy efficient appliances and recycled the old power hungry fridge with a Phoenix Fridge - a program funded by the Victorian Sustainability Fund that is retrofitting old fridges and providing them to Victorian families in need - helping them save up to $100 a year on their energy bills.
Find out more about how you have the power to save energy, just like the Lane family.
Episode Six - McKinney Lelliotts
Meet the McKinney Lelliotts - Mike and Cath and their three kids living in inner city Melbourne. Cath is concerned for the environment, but with three kids finds it hard to find the time to be green and has asked the Carbon Cops for help.
The Cops set about making some small changes to the family's home - they turned down the thermostat on the hot water service, installed water flow restrictors and built a pergola - to let light in the house in winter and shading windows in summer.
The family set about to meet the Cops' challenge to reduce their emissions by 50% - cooking in the microwave instead of the oven, using public transport, taking shorter showers and riding a bike for shorter trips instead of taking the four-wheel-drive.
Together, with the Cops' help and small changes in behaviour, the McKinney Lelliott family cut their total energy use by 57% for an annual saving of $5,600.
So how did they do it?
To reduce the amount of sun light hitting the house during summer, the Cops constructed a pergola - protecting the windows from heat in summer and letting sunlight and heat in during winter.
Find out more about how you can make your home more energy efficient at the Your Home website.
Top | Last updated 07/05/2009
