Water heating is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions from an average Australian home and the second largest segment of household energy use in Australia, after space heating and cooling. It accounts for about 21% of the energy and generates about 23% of the greenhouse gas emissions (DCCEE 2010). In Australia, about 48% of the energy used for water heating comes from natural gas, 45% from electricity, 3% from liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and 4% from solar (DCCEE 2012). Electric water heaters in particular contribute to these emissions: only half of Australian homes use electric water heaters, but they contribute 80% of hot water greenhouse emissions. Reducing your hot water use and using renewable energy sources to heat water are great ways to reduce your environmental impact.
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