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It may sound weird (and possibly illegal) but electrifying your friends and relatives is a good option, writes Mike Casey.
It's hard to change people's perspectives, but Rewiring Aotearoa CEO Mike Casey is particularly proud of the fact that he's managed to 'electrify his dad' Simon Casey, who ran as a candidate for the Act Party in the last election.
As he writes in an op-ed in The Post about what he's doing for the planet in 2025, saving money was the main motivation for dad's decision to get an EV, rooftop solar and a battery, but upgrading to electric machines has also chopped his emissions down to almost nothing. Win-win!
Wanting to save money is something most of us have in common and you can save plenty of it by electrifying your life. And if you've already done it, one of the best things you can do for the planet is to follow Mike's lead and electrify your mums, dads, siblings, cousins, friends and grumpy uncles.
"If you succeed, that is one gift that will keep on giving."
When Mike Casey bought his house near Cromwell, it came with gas bottles on the side of the home for water and an expensive diesel system for the underfloor heating. He replaced both of them with a Steibel Eltron system and it's been saving him money ever since. As technical manager Bhawesh Singh told him at the Electrify Queenstown conference, there has been a big influx in enquiries from homes looking to get off the molecules and onto electrons.
Read moreDownloadConfidence that cutting regulations to make solar power more accessible - won't jeopardise people's safety. A new Regulation Ministry reports laid out a potential blueprint to legalise plug-in solar and reduce the time and cost of panel installation. Rewiring Aotearoa CEO Mike Casey shares his thoughts with Andrew Dickens.
The burgeoning demand for solar was also a chance to address a mismatch between the numbers of training opportunities available and young people searching for work, Casey said. "The mums of New Zealand are telling me that there's not enough apprenticeships for their kids and the solar installers of New Zealand are telling me there's not enough trained people."
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