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Environment
Baran Yildiz, Senior lecturer in Renewable Energy Engineering, UNSW Sydney

If our hot water heaters ran off daytime solar, we would slash emissions and soak up cheap energy

nikkytok/Shutterstock

Your hot shower or bath uses 15-30% of your household’s total energy, second only to the heating and cooling of air.

More than half of all Australian households rely on electric water heaters with a storage tank. These act like thermal batteries and often store more energy than a home battery. Traditionally, these heaters operated during off-peak hours overnight when power demand was low. This practice also helps maintain stability for coal power stations.

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