An interview with Evergen customer Marina from Beecroft, NSW
In Sydney’s upper north Shore is Beecroft, a leafy, tree lined suburb with beautiful heritage listed homes.
Marina, her husband and two adult children live in a large federation home featuring three floors, six bedrooms and four lounge rooms along with reverse cycle ac and an in ground pool. With it’s double brick and sandstone foundations, it’s an extremely energy hungry property to heat and cool.
Having run businesses for many years, Marina and her husband decided to retire early at 55 and enjoy the rewards of their hard work. Whilst travelling was on the agenda, so too was an electric vehicle and the time to now look at ways to become more climate conscious and energy efficient. As business people, they wanted to future proof their investments.
Solar and battery storage had always been on Marina’s radar but without some kind of smart technology to optimise the investment, the economics just did not work. But when Marina learnt that Evergen’s Intelligent Control technology would enable smarter energy, she knew it was right for her home.
“Just having solar and a battery was not enough, the technology around it had to make it work smarter and more efficient.”
In mid 2018, Marina had 22 solar panels and a Tesla Powerwall installed, all hooked up to Evergen Intelligent Control.
On installation the family believed the system would be paid back in 5 years, but the technology has exceeded their expectations and the investment will be paid back in 3 years.
Benefits of Evergen Intelligent Control for Marina
“The fact that Intelligent Control learns my family’s energy consumption behaviours is what’s most important. I have so much trust in the technology that I don’t even look at the app nowadays, my electricity bills tell me it is working.”
One of the best things about Intelligent Control for this Beecroft family is the blackout feature. Last year, the suburb experienced blackouts for days but they were able to continue life as per usual.
“Last year when we were travelling, there was heavy rainfall and a subsequent blackout. Our moisture pump was able to run permanently on backup power which was a huge relief. We had already replaced the floors years ago and we did not want to do that again!”
Savings
- With Intelligent Control added to her solar and battery, Marina’s electricity bills are around $300-$360 per quarter.
- Without her solar-battery system with Intelligent Control, Marina’s electricity was around $2000 per quarter.
An example of Intelligent Control pre-charging Marina’s battery the night before a cloudy winter day, so she has a full battery to help avoid grid imports during the peak tariff period starting at 2pm.
