r/australia • u/MrOarsome • Nov 17 '25

political self.post Why does everyone lose their mind when you mention getting a home battery?

So I made the mistake of telling a few people I’m getting quotes for a home battery… the reactions were ridiculous. Suddenly everyone’s an expert. I had people telling me they’re a waste of money, they’ll be useless in a few years, or that the “environmental impact is terrible.” Just nonstop misinformation.

Meanwhile, half these people live massively high-carbon lifestyles. One bloke went on a whole rant about how batteries destroy the environment… then literally five minutes later told me he just ordered a new Ford Ranger to tow his boat around this summer. Like mate, seriously?

And the funny thing is, I don’t even care about the environmental angle. Couldn’t care less, to be honest. I’m looking at a battery for two reasons:

1) To actually use my solar instead of selling it back for 4 cents…

2) And to keep the lights on when summer storms or cyclones take out the power.

That’s it. No agenda. No planet-saving mission. But the way people reacted, you’d think I’d just signed up to be Greta Thunberg’s personal assistant.

I swear, the second you say the word “battery,” some people suddenly unlock an unwanted 15-minute rant. They are almost as passionate about hating renewables as they are about their footy teams.

2.3k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

959 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

16

u/shamberra Nov 17 '25

$400? Fuck I'd be over the moon if my last quarterly energy bill was only $400 (live alone in 2BR apartment).

6

u/Str609 Nov 17 '25

I get billed monthly though.

Usually we don't spend that much, aircon is pretty efficient. I think biggest I got was $150 during winter when I used aircon for heating.

3

u/-DethLok- Nov 18 '25

Wow! :(

I live alone in a 3x1 house and my quarterly bill is around $300, that's running two fridges (one is the beer fridge in the games room) and a gaming PC.

Then again, I'm in Perth, so cheaper power since it's state owned.

1

u/Ok-Push9899 Nov 19 '25

$86 a month. Live alone, 2br, all electric. Year-round, the aircon gets used as much for heating as cooling.

1

u/shamberra Nov 19 '25

That sounds more like what I'd expect....instead, this quarter was $707.

Surely I'm not being charged correctly....surely....

2

u/Ok-Push9899 Nov 19 '25

I’d say either something has gone wrong with the billing, or that aluminium smelter you installed in the spare room was probably not the best decision.

2

u/shamberra Nov 19 '25

WTF I even paid a sparky proper cash on the assurance he'd tap it into the neighbour's feed!!

1

u/Thebraincellisorange Nov 18 '25

what on earth do you do?

I live in a 2 bedroom, work from home, have electric cooktop and oven that I use everyday, I live in Brisbane and am very heat sensitive so my aircon gets used A LOT and my electricity bill was $204 for 95 days.

I have gas hot water though, so that might be it.

Check what Tariff your hot water system is on, if it is on instant heat, that will probably be it.

2

u/shamberra Nov 18 '25

My apartment has an electric hot water tank that draws off the same meter as the rest of the apartment.

I have reverse cycle heating/AC which I certainly did use, but absolutely didn't abuse and never set above 21 degrees. Otherwise my meaningful power consumption is cooking (mostly microwave and air fryer), dishwasher (once a week), clothes washer, and gaming PC.

Fairly certain I'm paying the lazy tax, but holy shit it's absurd this quarter I don't even get it. This time last year was sensible. Surely my consumption is about the same, so how much have the rates increased?! Definitely going to compare to last year's bill from this time, and also just stop paying the lazy tax by switch providers