Energy Efficient

Moving from an apartment into a House.
Cost of electricity bill is a concern for most.
At the moment, we pay a set amount for our electricity, things like energy rating or how much electricity we use wasn't a big concern for us (money-wise).
Since we'll be paying bill soon, so we thought its time to venture into a more energy saving living.

Solar panel is always in the back of our mind.
Something that we are definitely doing.
Awhile ago during the Royal Show, we sign up at a booth for some information,
and about a week ago we got a call from this company and arranged a time to meet up and just to get more information.
we went there, the shop front looks like an industrial factory
the salesperson said that they only provide the top of the top range.
and offered us a 1.5kw system for $5300 using a Conergy (240w) panels and a Delta inverter.
He also said he would backdate the application for us, so we could keep the old meter.
Because this was the first shop we talk to, we weren't sure, basically we wanted to compare different store first before we make any decision.
And then he offered to submit an application first to get the government approval, and after that if we do not want to go-forth, we can cancel the contract with no obligation.
so we signed the contract.

After that, we read the terms and condition, there is a 10 days cooling off period, so if we want to cancel the contract, we will have to cancel the contract with in 10days of the contract was sign otherwise we will have to pay 5% (or was it 10%) of the agreed values.
And because the contract was back dated to the 12th (we signed on the 18th), we were very uncomfortable with having a legal document bind to us when we are not sure of the product.
So the next day we submitted a written cancellation letter right away. And in the afternoon, we received a call from the owner of the company and demand for a cancellation fee, and Oh boy, Mr. was fired up and was so angry, we went to talk to the consumer protection right away. The guy from the consumer protection said we did everything right and they decided to have any funny business, we can file a formal complaint.
What an experience?
Are we still going to install solar panel?
Yes, we are. I guess we were just unlucky to have met with the dodgy ones the first time round.

ENERGY RATING APPLIANCES

We are also gonna be needing some new appliances like fridges ..etc
We are not considering second-hand at the moment, although we know that we can save big bucks by getting second-hand, but then, this is gonna be our home for probably the next 10 years, we want things that will last or at least have existing warranty, so if it does go faulty, we are still in a way insured.

If you are also looking at getting appliances at the moment,
check out http://reg.energyrating.gov.au/comparator/product_types/
It is a government energy rating website and they offer a list of appliances from different brand and you can compare their energy rating and cost. pretty handy i say.

Hope you guys will have or have had a better experience in regards to solar panel.
If you have any suggestion for solar panel company in WA, please share.

Happy Go Green
xxx