How Darcy turned his Preston home all-electric

When Darcy Pimblett moved into his Preston home in 2021, his three-bedroom weatherboard house had been fitted with a 2 kilowatt solar system, but was heavily reliant on gas.

Motivated by a desire to cut energy bills and emissions while creating a healthier home for the family, Darcy, who lives with his wife and young daughter, began switching the house to electric.

First to go was the gas cooking, replaced with an induction cooktop. The ducted gas heating was next.

“Environmental concerns were our biggest driver with the cooktop and heating,” Darcy says. “We never used the ducted gas heating because it created a lot of dust and we have asthmatics in the house. But we also wanted to save money and using gas heating would have cost thousands.”

Darcy began the work himself, removing the ducts and installing underfloor insulation. He then engaged an installer to remove the gas unit and install reverse cycle heating and cooling, completing each room as they could afford it.

“We couldn't afford to have all our rooms done at once, so I staggered the work, doing two and then three. It took a bit of time.”

This year, Darcy completed the electrification, replacing his gas hot water unit with a new heat pump hot water system.

“A friend referred me to Easy Electric SEC, and it triggered me to finally take that last step,” he says.

The free digital platform gives households clear, personalised information to understand their energy use and potential savings. Users can explore electric upgrades, including potential rebates and discounts, get tailored, obligation-free quotes, and find local SEC-endorsed installers to supply and complete their upgrades.

“Easy Electric SEC made it really easy to assess all of the options I was interested in and to see the estimates of cost savings. With the click of a few buttons, I was able to get quotes. I didn’t bother seeking quotes from anyone else because I trusted that they were vetted suppliers and could see that they had good reviews online. I’d definitely recommend it to other people.”

In July 2026, the family switched off the gas for good.

“It was great to receive our last gas bill. Before we were paying hundreds of dollars a year for supply charges alone, even though we were only using a relatively small amount of gas for our hot water. Now we’re often heating our water for free.”

Darcy says bill savings weren’t his only motivation. Switching to electric was the right thing to do.

“Our house is comfortable, warm and healthy,” he says. “I’ve just come back from a road trip where we stayed in a lot of different houses. Returning to a warm and healthy home really made us appreciate the difference that our electrification and energy efficiency improvements have made.”