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Not all sub trunks are created equal
Some only fit a licence plate. Some can fit a spare tyre. We’re at the Casey Electric Vehicle Expo. Casey is a council region, near us. The Future Drive Australia EV show was supposed to be running this weekend in Melbourne, but they cancelled it just a few days ago, presumably leaving ticket holders and exhibitors out of pocket with no event. They run a range of car shows, not just EVs. I think they’ve gone bust. I thought the Casey show would not be able to compete. But now, they’re the only show in town. Put on by AEVA Australian Electric Vehicle Association. Lots of EVs. Lots of attendees. Lots of questions. I overheard “I’d like to get an EV but I like to go for a drive [a long way]”. I had to bite my tongue “It’s not an issue. We do it all the time”. And some helpful stands, such as ZECO Energy, to help households to get off gas.
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Health danger to kids if we keep using gas
The Eastern Melburnian has written about the health risks of household gas. The story includes a mention of our move off gas here in Emerald, along with our own unflattering photo of Tom. The angle is health rather than cost. It quotes Australian modelling from 2018 that attributed 12.3 per cent of childhood asthma to gas cooking, and a 2013 study that found children in a home with gas cooking were 42 per cent more likely to develop asthma. About 80 per cent of Victorian homes still have gas piped in. https://www.easternmelburnian.com.au/p/kids-asthma-coalition-one-nation-gas-plans
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A month of cooking on induction
We have cooked on gas and on electric elements for years. This is our first month with a Westinghouse full induction cooktop in place of the gas. We had trialled induction on a small scale first. We bought a portable hotplate last year (also Westinghouse), as a spare in our kitchen — on the bench at home, and in the back of the car on road trips. Induction still gets confused with the electric cooking most people remember, a metal hotplate or a coil glowing red, sometimes under glass. Induction works differently — it makes the pan itself the heating element, so nearly all the energy goes into the pan rather than into the kitchen, and the glass beside the pan stays cool enough to rest a hand on. Here is what a month of it has been like. What stands out is how fast and how responsive it is. It comes on instantly, goes off instantly, and changes power the moment you ask. It boils faster than the gas did. CHOICE's testing has induction boiling a litre of water in about half the time gas…
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Did going all-electric cause our mould?
We spent 2025 and 2026 getting off gas — heat pump hot water, a multi-head air conditioner replacing the ducted gas heater, and finally an induction cooker. Then we found mould on the bed slats. Was it due to electrification? We first found this same mould, on these same slats, in December 2024 — fourteen months before the air conditioners went in, while the gas ducted heater was still doing all the heating. Whatever causes it was here first, and it was here while the gas was. Gas cooking turns out to actually make it worse. Burning gas makes water: roughly 1.6 kilograms of water vapour for every cubic metre burnt. That is on top of the water coming out of the food or boiling water, which happens whatever you cook on. Going induction removed the extra moisture. Not to mention the benzene, which is a known carcinogen. What did change is the ventilation. The old ducted system leaked, and those leaks quietly brought in outside air. Reverse-cycle doesn't leak. Better heating, staler air.…
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Our heating doesn't breathe
Last post we found the mould. This one is about where the water was coming from. I assumed the ensuite — showers, obviously. That is a real part of it, though not quite as I pictured. The door stays shut and the fan runs while we shower. It's afterwards that the moisture gets out: the fan goes off, the door opens, and the wet walls, floor and towels carry on evaporating into the house for hours. But it wasn't the whole story, and working out the rest meant unlearning how I thought our heating worked. Here's the misconception, and I held it for years. You switch on the air conditioner. The big fan in the unit outside starts spinning. Air blows out of the head on the wall inside. Obvious conclusion: that fan is pushing outside air into the house, warming it on the way in. Wrong. No new air comes in at all. The outdoor unit and all that white insulated pipework only move refrigerant gas, and the gas never enters the room. It just makes a hot surface inside, and the head blows the room's…
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Off the gas for good
91.16 cents a day for a pipe we no longer used. Cancelling it took a chatbot, a $9.13 fee, and a question about whether the house was being demolished.
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Rebate for replacing our gas stove
The rebate is worth about $200. I'll get $120. You cannot claim it yourself — and the app only accepts documents from your phone's photo gallery.
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Installing our induction stove
The crew arrived at seven. By lunchtime the gas was capped, the old Smeg was gone, and 40 amps of new circuit ran from the switchboard to the kitchen.
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Quotes to install an oven and induction cooktop
I thought connecting an oven was an afternoon and a few hundred dollars. The first quote was $3,014 — so I went looking to understand why it's such a big job.
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Oven bought in March, arrived in July
The docket said “ETA 3 weeks”. It took 106 days, six phone calls, and an oven posted back to the warehouse because nobody read the email saying hold it.
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Our last gas appliance
Our Smeg 90cm oven and cooktop. We’re replacing it with a Westinghouse 90cm oven and induction cooktop, from The Good Guys. Then we can finally get off the gas.
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Why ducted air conditioning is inefficient
Ducted air conditioning (or heating) is inefficient. Let me explain, and see what you think. I am not a fan (pun intended) of ducted. It seems to be very inefficient. But only one in five air con sales reps seem to agree with my reasoning. At our previous home, in Saratoga NSW, we had a large (10kW) ducted air con system upstairs, which included all the bedrooms. When we just wanted to cool or heat one room, we tried to close the door of that room. But the door would slam shut and whistle, as the air would try to escape. The ducted air con had one or two outlets in each room’s roof. It had one shared return vent in the hall. Turning on the air con in a single room, the air needed to return to the hall to circulate. Closing the door blocked that path and made the pump work extra hard. The thermostat was also in the hall, as part of the control unit. We could set the target temperature of a room to say 22°C, but the room might cool down to 18° before the hall thermostat would register…
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Make way for more air con compressors
Two weeks after the downstairs install, the upstairs heads finally go in — but the one shared compressor became three.
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Goodbye gas — disconnecting the ducted heating
Goodbye gas! I finally organised disconnecting the ducted gas heating at our home. If only we could see the burnt gas pouring into the air, all the time, and not just when the condensation highlights it (as in the photos). Pumping carcinogens and greenhouse gases into the air that we breathe. It’s nuts. It was costing us up to $528 per month to run the heating in winter. Our replacement air conditioning will be closer to free, thanks to our solar and battery. We recently also replaced our gas hot water with a heat pump. Our one remaining gas appliance is our stove top. Once that’s gone, we will save $35 per month just for the connection fee. And no more gas! We’re replacing the gas heating with some split air conditioners. For those who might say “what about in a blackout”? Note the power point connection on the old gas heating. Our old gas hot water heat pump had one too. They both needed electricity to run. In fact, in addition the gas consumed, the heating used about 1kW of…
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Multi-head air conditioning installation, stage 1
The original plan was to install a multi head system, with five heads (one in each of five rooms), and one shared compressor, outside. Due to a change of plans (see “Problems” below), we end up with three heads on our multi-head system, covering our downstairs living area (lounge, dining, kitchen), master bedroom, and guest room. Configuration: Shared compressor: 18kW (though much lower in actual use) Head 1: Master bedroom: 2.8kW Head 2: Guest room: 2.8kW Head 3: Living area: 8.4kW Cost: The original quote was for a five head system, including two more 2.8kW heads and a slightly larger 20kW compressor. $14,776 Emerald 20kW with 5 x heads -$7,140 VEECS discount -$386 EOY Sale $7,250 Total inc GST Inclusions: Removal of Gas ducted system 1 (no duct removal) Double storey We paid about 20% deposit up front, and the rest on completion. As you can see above, the VEECS rebate/discount paid for about half of the system. As part of the project, we replaced the existing gas ducted heating. We…
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Savic test rides through the Dandenongs
While driving in our town of Emerald to get some Emerald Thai for dinner, I did a double take when I saw a Savic Motorcycles sign, randomly on the footpath. It turns out that they were running test rides today “winding through the beautiful Dandenong Ranges”. What a great idea! Test drives at dealerships and even EV shows tend to be within urban sprawls, which doesn’t offer much of a driving or riding experience. We’ve seen Savic at a few EV shows, including the recent Everything Electric in Melbourne (pictured). I wish I had known it was on, and that we weren’t recovering from a cold right now. Hopefully next time. Savic is an Australian company building electric motorcycles.
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Solar, battery and electrification — series intro
A few neighbours and friends have asked us lately for advice about solar panels, house battery, EVs etc. Here’s our real life experience, starting a series of posts on different topics. We installed solar and battery when we moved into our house (Emerald, Victoria) about two years ago. We already had an EV (electric car). This week, we finally got around to replacing our gas hot water with an electric heat pump. Next month we’re replacing our gas ducted heating with a multi head split air conditioning system. Overall, our solar and battery provide more electricity than we use. We’re also connected to the electricity grid so we can import when we need more, or export when we have a surplus. We aim to produce all the power that we need. On the rare times that we import electricity from the grid, our retailer bills us. More often, we export our surplus electricity to the grid, for which they give us a credit. Overall, we have more credit than debits, so we don’t have to pay anything. All…
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Heat pump installation
We finally got around to installing a hot water heat pump, to replace our gas hot water system. We were paying about $40 per month for our instant gas hot water (plus $40 connection fee). Now we’re paying nothing, because the heat pump is just using our excess solar power. Without solar, I estimate it would be costing us $8 per month to power it from the electricity grid. There are a few incentive schemes around to replace gas (or other old inefficient systems) with a heat pump. An installer will factor these into their quote. The subsidies can be significant. In our case, the total price was $4480, but it was reduced to $1650 for us to pay, after subsidies were subtracted. A hot water heat pump uses the same principle as an air conditioner (which is also a heat pump). It “pumps” heat from one side to the other. In this case, it pumps heat from the outside air into the tank of water. The basic physics is that when you compress air in a confined space, it gets hot, and when you expand…
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Final day at Everything Electric Melbourne
Starting and ending with Jack Scarlett. Test drives, a panel talk about road tripping, EV conversions, and a flux capacitor, some of the highlights.
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Snapshots from Everything Electric Melbourne
Some random shots from Everything Electric Melbourne today. After a few years in Sydney, this is their first showing in Melbourne. It’s noticeably smaller, but understandable for the first appearance. Interesting panel talks. Informative staff at product booths. Huge variety of test drives available, including self driving Tesla cars. A few food truck offerings. They need more undercover seating (from sun or rain). We recommend the falafel wraps.
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A $25k BYD Atto 1 is closing in on ICE prices
About $25k for a new BYD Atto 1. Wow. EVs are now approaching the price of comparative ICE vehicles. Unfortunately, BYD couldn’t get their Atto 1 prepped in time for the show, but they did have the Atto 2 on the floor (pictured). At Everything Electric Melbourne.
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Camper vans and EV utes at Everything Electric
Checking out the Farizon electric van, decked out as a camper. Also the popular BYD Shark electric ute (plus hybrid range extender), and some towing options. At Everything Electric Melbourne.
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A peek inside the Geely EV
Nice interior of the Geely EV, at Everything Electric Melbourne. So many EV options available now.
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A flipping, rolling cat robot at Everything Electric
Dancing, flipping, rolling cat robot at Everything Electric Melbourne was a crowd pleaser. No litter box!
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Goodbye Gas, helping homes electrify
Nice to see some services (like Goodbye Gas) available to help homes get off has, upgrading to electric. Better for health, monthly bills, and clean air. At Everything Electric, Melbourne.
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Two-wheel EVs at Everything Electric Melbourne
Some of the many scooters, motorbikes and e-bikes at Everything Electric Melbourne.
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Electric police cars at Everything Electric
A Tesla Model X and Kia EV6, I think.
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Behind the wheel of an electric big rig
Big wheels keep on turnin’, electrically! Trying out a big rig at Everything Electric show Melbourne
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Silo art on the Mallee Highway home
August 10-11: We initially stumbled upon some silo art, then looked for more, on our way home from South Australia, starting along the Mallee Highway. Amazing.
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Last overnight stop, in Sea Lake
Part way through one of the Silo Art trails, yesterday, the sun was setting, so we booked a room at the next town, at the Sea Lake Motel. This is our final overnight stop before driving the remaining 450km to home, today. Last night, almost everything in this small town was closed. The motel stocks refrigerated meals in a vending machine, for people like us stopping in at the last minute. Great idea. We chose a curry, microwaved it in our room, but then realised that the used by date on the two packets was months ago, even though the used by date on the outer packet was fine. We decided not to risk it, and happily made a picnic tea out of our car travel food. We informed the host, just so they knew. It’s the fault of the food company, not the host.
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Bakery breakfast, and a coal-fed NRMA charger, in Wycheproof
Breakfast and coffee stop at this enticing bakery in Wycheproof. Nice place. The NRMA charger up the road conveys “welcome”. The banners on the fence next to it imply “as long as your electricity comes from coal or gas”, perhaps. Let’s Google it: https://www.google.com/search?q=wind+turbines+generate+intense+electromagnetic+radiation+true+or+false
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The world's smallest mountain?
I think I saw a sign on the way in: “The world’s smallest mountain”. It’s 42m above the surrounding terrain, and only 147m above see level. But, it still gives a good view of the surrounding countryside.
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The last Anzac slice, near Bendigo
Our last piece of Anzac slice lasted until the last day of our road trip. Range anxiety – averted. Just passed Bendigo, this view over the “valley of a thousand hills” seemed appropriate.
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In a Tesla to Uluru and back: a 5500 km recap
July 23 - August 11: We drove to the centre of Australia and back in an EV. Using the shortest range EV that Tesla currently builds. If you like a long drive, the scenery is spectacular and sprawling. Wandering the sand dunes and spinifex plains is very peaceful. Sunsets and Uluru are otherworldly. The charging infrastructure in Australia is getting better, but the drive up the Stuart Highway isn’t quite there yet. Thanks to RAA / Chargefox and The NRMA for your work so far on chargers along the Stuart Highway. We need improved reliability. We luckily dodged a few outages. Pimba lost power for a couple of days that made the EV charger unusable, but it fortunately worked during our time there. Glendambo (between Pimba and Coober Pedy) has only a 7kW charger that runs off the town’s diesel generator, and would not initially start, both times we passed through. The NRMA charger at Erldunda Roadhouse, in Ghan, died a couple of days after we visited. But, there’s almost always a plan B for…
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From the Barossa to a Singapore chat in Tailem Bend
We plotted a rough course from the Barossa Valley towards home. First stop at Palmer Lookout, then Tailem Bend, home of a raceway and drag strip, I believe, for “the best coffee in Tailem Bend” from Revival Cafe. At the Tesla super chargers, a couple from Singapore chatted to us about travelling. They hired their Tesla Model Y in Melbourne, drove through South Australia, and are next headed to Sydney in NSW. They have previously hired an EV from Perth and driven down to around Esperance. I told them I’d post their photo to encourage Australians to road trip in EVs in their own country.
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Lunch at Demi's Kitchen in Pinnaroo
We took the Mallee Highway to exit South Australia, stopping in Pinnaroo for lunch. Country town, after 2pm, on a Sunday, not much was open. Typing “lunch” into the iPhone’s Maps app, and filtering for “Open Now”, showed Demi’s Kitchen, a few blocks from the center of town. Time for a wander, through the town green. Cute food truck style caravan in her front garden. We took our “super veggie fried rice” and “curry vegetable dumplings” down the road to the Pinnaroo Wetlands park, around the corner from the tractor dealership. All in all, a pretty nice town. Glad we had the chance to explore.
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A sixties throwback at the Lyndoch Motel
Our home for a couple of nights at The Lyndoch Motel, in the Barossa Valley. Super cute sixties retro theme. The plumbing might need an update, however. We hear the neighbour’s drain through our own. White sneakers from the frunk still have a shade of red earth from the outback.
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Lunch at Maggie Beer's Farm Shop
Lunch and a stroll at Maggie Beer’s Farm shop in The Barossa Valley.
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Numb Skulls at the Barossa Sculpture Park
We were exploring the Barossa Sculpture Park, when randomly the Variety Bash cars turned up, including the “Numb Skulls” with the skulls on the boot, whom we met a week ago in Glendambo, on our way to Uluru. Big country, small world.
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Topped up in Glendambo — return trip
Having topped up in Glendambo (see our previous post), we finally made it to Pimba. “Let’s check out Woomera first” – so we turned left and kept driving. The “Pimba” showcase sign featured a train crossing. Living up to the promise, we were immediately stopped at the rail crossing by a long freight train headed south along the Ghan line. At about this point we thought we maybe should have charged up before going exploring, but 10% seemed fine. We followed the GT to overtake the road train, and then turned off into Woomera. We did a lap of the town, with a stop by the rockets and relics of years gone by. This used to be an active RAAF base, with a mixed history of rocket testing and sadly affected lives from radiation exposure. We only saw about three people in the town. We headed back to Spud's Roadhouse in Pimba, plugged into the RAA/Chargefox fast charger, used the facilities, bought a chocolate bar, drank some tea, then decided to keep driving, to stay in Port Augusta tonight.
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Green lawns and EV chargers at Port Augusta
Leaving the outback behind, we stayed last night at the Standpipe Golf Motor Inn, in Port Augusta. This is the first green lawn we’ve seen in many days. Part of the reason we picked this place is because their online profile says it has EV chargers on site. In our booking comment, we mentioned that we’d want to use the EV charging, since that often helps a host allocate a nearby room. Shortly after, they rang us to say that the chargers were out of action. According to PlugShare, they’ve been offline for a long time. Please get them fixed or remove the listing from your booking profile. In the morning, we crossed the river to the esplanade to grab some breakfast supplies. While parked, we plugged into the RAA/Chargefox EV charger. Very convenient, next to the shops and foreshore, Moreso than the Tesla chargers up the road, which we used last time. We also gave a brief interview to Nick from Yahoo News Australia, about our recent EV charging experience in the outback. I hope the…
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Hatch-breakfast on the way to the Barossa
Port Augusta to Barossa Valley, stopping for a late breakfast from the hatch of the car. The fridge is conveniently located with butter for our croissants and milk for our cereal. The mountains to the west looked interesting, so we diverted off the main road through endless green fields. Such a contrast to the endless red earth from a few days ago.
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A late lunch at Monkey Nut Cafe
Late lunch at the Monkey Nut Cafe (Kies Winery) in the Barossa Valley. Kitchen had closed so we had to make do 😉 with a grazing board, coffee and scones, all to share. Very friendly staff. Beautiful place. The age old battle of cream first vs jam first, continues.
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Dinner at The Lord Lyndoch, in The Barossa Valley
Dinner at The Lord Lyndoch, in The Barossa Valley. Charging: Oh, look, they have EV chargers in the car park. Let’s plug in while we’re having dinner. What a great idea. Thank you RAA/Chargefox.
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Vineyards from the Monkey Nut Cafe
At Monkey Nut Cafe, in the Barossa Valley, with endless vineyards in the background.
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A wary dusk drive into Port Augusta
In today’s drive, from Coober Pedy, this was the final leg from Spud's Roadhouse, Pimba, south to Port Augusta. We normally avoid driving at dusk, due to animal activity on the roads. We spotted many sheep along the road from unfenced properties, and a couple of cows. Just as we were leaving Pimba, a kangaroo jumped out on the other side and stared at us. It was the only alive kangaroo we’ve seen out here this trip, probably because we don’t usually drive in the twilight hours. The sunset put on its usual glorious display, tempting me to stop to take photos, but we drove on. A police car pulled over a speeder heading north. Might have saved their life, or at least a wrecked car. We drove on slowly, far behind a road train. I wasn’t game to overtake into possible oncoming wildlife. We had the Tesla on Autopilot, so it drove while we watched for movement on the sides. The maximum follow distance setting is 7 (as in the photo), but that’s too close at speed, or behind a truck that can…
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Stuck in Glendambo with the local hero (Chris)
As you can probably tell by the first photo of the local hero (Chris) resetting the EV charger, we stayed a lot longer in Glendambo than we had planned. Similar problem, now on our way south from Coober Pedy, as we had a week ago during our trip north.
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Breakfast under Kata Tjuṯa
Kata Tjuṯa is even more huge than Uluṟu. You can tell from the relative size of each in the distance from each other. But, of course, Uluṟu is one whole rock. We set up breakfast out of our camp fridge and bags, at Kata Tjuṯa. We didn’t see any of the dingos, warned by the signs. Then a few short walks. One of the other visitors had just driven from WA, and asked where the next petrol station was. I laughed and told him that of all the people he could have asked, I was probably the least suitable, driving an electric car. But I happened to know that there is one back at Yulara, about 40km away. He seemed relieved that was less than the fuel range he had remaining. We discussed the high cost of fuel out here, at around $3 per litre. He asked about our electric car. I mentioned that I’d noticed that the toilet block in the car park had a power point, next to the hand dryer. In an emergency, I could probably use that, powered by the solar on the roof and I think backup diesel generator.…
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Walking the shaded trails of Uluṟu
August 2,3: Even though it’s fairly cool now, in winter, the sun can still pack a punch. This waterhole is understandably sacred to the traditional owners, being a water oasis in the desert. The walking trails are closed if the temperature hits 36°C. Most walking trails seem to have heat warnings, shaded seats and water supply near the entrances. While we were out walking, I set the Tesla to enable cabin overheat protection, and lowered the threshold to 30°, because I had some perishables in the car.
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Sounds of Silence: dinner under Uluru's stars
Last night – magical sunset over Uluru and distant Kata Tjuṯa, while enjoying canapés, buffet dinner, drinks in the middle of the outback. To top off our Sounds of Silence experience, a star talk – a mix of astronomy and traditional interpretation. Fascinating and informative. Loved the sky pointer.
Formerly: Tesla Tripping
Come along on our EV road trips around Australia and Europe, and follow as we progressively electrify our home in Emerald, Victoria.
Join us on the road. We set off in late 2022 and drove eastern Australia in our Tesla Model 3 — Sydney, Dubbo, Armidale, Brisbane, Cape Tribulation, then down through Queensland and back. We've since upgraded to a Model Y.
We've kept exploring — Uluru, the Snowy Mountains and Gippsland, and a longer run through Europe in 2024. There's plenty more on the map, so come along for the next leg.
At home in Emerald, in Victoria's Dandenong Ranges, we're progressively electrifying everything: rooftop solar, a home battery, a hot water heat pump, air conditioned heating and cooling, and EV charging straight from the sun. We're going fully electric, off the gas.
Got questions, or insights of your own? We'd love to hear them — please drop a comment on any post.