Yes.

You can markedly reduce electric boosting by installing a timer or by manually switching it off in fine weather. This way you can prevent the electric booster kicking in at times when it is not appropriate (such as just before sunrise).

There are many other ways you can improve the perfomance of any hot water system, by building an insulated box around the cylinder, dropping the booster thermostat to 60 degrees (so that it does not cut in unnecessarily), by making sure your hot water pipes are insulated.

Go to Sustainable Living Tasmania’s website ( ) to see the many and varied ways you can save energy in your home.

From an environmental standpoint, there is not a lot in it.

Hydro electricity is renewable, so ought to be favoured. However, the reality at present is that every unit of electricity that is saved means less a unit less of thermal power imported from Victoria.

From an efficiency standpoint, gas boosting works more efficiently than electric boosting, because the gas booster should only fire up if there is inadequate solar hot water available whereas an electric booster tends to cut in when not needed.

You can choose to use bottled gas or mains gas (slightly different equipment needed for installation).

A gas-boosted system will be more costly to purchase and install and may require more maintenance.

(Note that when coupled to solar, a gas-boosted system requires a hot water cylinder to be installed.)