I’m a suburban Melbourne renter. Here’s how I weaned my home off gas and saved money on energy bills

Nelli Stevenson in her rental home in Melbourne. ‘In addition to opting for more energy-efficient appliances, we made a few small changes around the house to keep our electricity use down and temperatures up.’ Photograph: Penny Stephens/The Guardian

Come winter, there’s one three-letter subject that really dominates the outer suburbs of Melbourne, and if you guessed AFL, I’m afraid you’ve missed the mark.

I live in the quiet, leafy west, where houses were built cheaply and quickly, which leaves us all groaning about one thing: gas. These big spacious houses cost an absolute bomb to heat in winter.