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What is your home’s current energy use

Do you know how to assess your home’s current energy use and where best to spend your money to improve conditions? With our own home, it’s not been difficult to determine it’s been cold during our first winter and just when we thought conditions may have been improving, yesterday brought a sprinkling of snow to nearby Mt Pirongia.

Snow capped peaks of Mt Pirongia Photo/Dean Taylor

The temptation is to increase the inside temperature by improving the heating system, for us that means switching on portable electric heaters. Although an immediate temporary measure, turning on more heaters is not going to address the basic problems of the home and neither will installing expensive technologies such as heat pumps.

We need to gather more information on increasing the overall thermal performance of the home and in doing so develop a renovation plan that is individualized to our home and family needs. What may be suitable to us may not be suitable to another family who has differing needs. For instance, a retired couple who are less active and spend more time at home during the day may like to consider other options.

The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) have an excellent site; ENERGYWISE, full of practical information and advice to help you make choices regarding your energy use. Main pages along the toolbar include:

Choosing to manage the way you use energy means you can have lower power bills, a warmer, healthier home and less of an impact on the environment.

With the image of yesterday’s snow still fresh in our memories, we’re going to spend some time further researching where to start our own renovation with a view to completing the first stage by April next year.