Beacon

Household energy use

Homes are major consumers of energy, both in their construction and their operation, directly consuming 13% of total energy use and 34% of total electricity use in New Zealand.

HEEP (The Household Energy End-Use Project run by BRANZ Ltd) is currently the major source of information about energy use in New Zealand homes.  HEEP tells us:

• Homes rely mostly on electricity (69% of total) for their energy; solid fuel comes second with 20% and gas with 9%. 
• Space and water heating are the two largest end-uses of energy in a home, collectively accounting for 63% (34% space + 29% water) of energy use. 
• 75% of water is heated using electricity while solid fuels are the dominant source of energy used for space heating. 
• Homes relying on electricity for space heating are amongst New Zealand’s coolest. 
• A small proportion of households collectively consume the largest proportion of energy. The top 20% of homes, ranked for fuel use, consume 36% of New Zealand’s energy; the bottom 20% consumes only 9%.
• Energy consumption is strongly associated with the number of appliances within a home.

The benefits to homeowners

Reducing energy requirements means lower power bills and more money in your household budget. Using local renewable energy for space and water heating, stopping heat loss from the house and being more efficient with the energy we do use, will all contribute to a significant increase in household disposable income as well as making your house warmer and drier. 

The added benefit is better health for the whole family.  New Zealand houses are generally cold, damp, and hard to heat. These factors contribute to our high asthma rate, and to an excess winter mortality rate (the number of additional deaths occurring in winter months compared to non-winter months) of 1,600 people - a very high number among OECD countries.  We know that New Zealand homes are often under-heated and that fuel poverty is a reality in New Zealand. Work conducted by He Kainga Oranga / the Housing and Health Research Programme indicates that health gains can be made from improved indoor temperatures in winter.  This in turn can reduce household medical expenses and mean fewer days off school and work.  One of Beacon’s targets is to increase temperatures in our houses to meet minimum World Health Organisation standards.

Benefits for New Zealand

Sustainable homes provide numerous benefits for New Zealand at a national level.  From reduced spending on health through to increased productivity from our workforce, as well reducing energy consumption and CO2 emissions.

About a third of New Zealand’s energy comes from burning oil, coal and gas at power stations – producing greenhouse gases, which cause Earth’s atmosphere to heat up and the climate to change. If we can pull more energy from renewable sources, and be less wasteful with the energy we use in our homes, we can help address climate change.

Improving energy efficiency in individual homes and buildings is just one part of the climate-change picture. Changes to our weather patterns could have profound effects on the operation of the critical infrastructure that provides essential services such as light and heating to our homes. Enabling houses to capture more of their energy resources on-site helps to build the resilience of our neighbourhoods and cities to meet the challenge of extreme weather events caused by climate change.