GREEN LIVING - ENERGY Info Day

PLEASE NOTE: the NEW DATE for this event is Saturday 7 November 2026.

This event is run by volunteers passionate about living sustainably - thinking globally and acting locally.

We are offering flexible pricing so that no-one is excluded.
BYO lunch or make a donation for shared lunch if you can.

10am Acknowledgement of Country - Lisa Wriley, Kariong Eco Garden

Welcome to our solar powered Kariong Hall - Kariong Progress Association

10.15am Intro: Electrify Everything

10.20am Our journey to complete home electrification. Ian Garradd [15 mins: 10mins Q&A]
From gas to electric Hot Water System & cooking, petrol to electric mowing & car & solar & battery, virtual power plants, all starting 15 years ago.
What is an Energy audit and how can it help? (homes & commercial)

10.45am Home batteries - John Shiel, Narara Eco Village [15 mins: 10mins Q&A]
Dr John Shiel is a member of Narara Ecovillage & has expertise in adapting homes for climate change, extreme weather events and scarce resources. He was one of the 11,000 scientists who raised the climate emergency alarm and previously designed IT systems & power station structures. He is a member of Engineers Australia, Permaculture Central Coast, Renew & the Citizens Climate Lobby, and previously led the Newcastle branch of Beyond Zero Emissions.

11.10am Energy apps - what apps do we have and what do we think of them? Have they changed our behaviour?

11.20am Morning tea (feel free to bring something to share)

11.30am Discussion - Are we satisfied with the performance of our solar panels, batteries, and electric vehicles? What issues have people had?

12noon - Community batteries - Community PowerShare 2251 model - Scott and Robyn McClung [15 mins: 10mins Q&A] Community Powershare exists to be part of the solution of transitioning the energy economy to full reliance on renewables. It aims to reduce electricity costs, increase the value of solar feed-in by establishing a large community battery near Avoca and to encourage the uptake of solar energy.

12.25pm John Shiel, Narara Eco Village (NEV) community battery model [10mins] NEV Clean Energy Case Study (optional background reading!)

12.35pm Community Resilience activity with Tanya Mottl from NEV [15 mins]

12.50pm LUNCH - soup & vege wraps, cooked with electricity and using an EV. Check out the Electric Vehicles in the car park 

1.20pm What can the Kariong community do? What are we already doing? Join the Electrify Everything community? Rewiring Australia? What about the wider Central Coast? Share ideas eg Kariong Kilowatt Counter - Lisa KEG

1.50pm Wrap up and any questions that have not already been asked?

2pm Close - Thanks for coming!