Investing in home energy efficiency

Using more efficient appliances and technology at home is one of the easiest ways to keep your energy costs down. Many New Zealand households could save over $1,000 a year by switching out key household appliances for more efficient options.

If you're replacing your older household appliances, making some upgrades to your home, or building new, it can make a big difference to look at the big picture of your home energy use, and work out where you can make the biggest savings on energy costs.   

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What affects your energy bill the most?

The 5 things that have the biggest impact on your home energy bills are your:

  • heating
  • hot water
  • cooktop
  • vehicles
  • rooftop solar.

In the next year, 20% of Kiwi homeowners will be in the market to purchase one of these key home appliances, and researching an energy efficient option for these purchases can save money in the long-run. Even if you’re not planning on upgrades any time soon, it can be helpful to think ahead and have an energy plan for your home.

Home energy savings calculator

Powering up your home with efficient appliances could save you thousands in energy costs. 

Use our calculator to work out which appliances offer the best long-term savings for your home. 

How we use energy in our homes

In New Zealand we use electricity, gas, petrol and diesel to power our homes and vehicles. Whatever fuels you’re using, it’s likely that most of your energy use is for cars, heating and hot water.

If you want to cut down your energy costs long term, it makes sense to focus on these energy uses, and plan ahead to choose energy-efficient replacements for when your current systems reach the end of their life.

We recommend also considering your cooktop as part of your home energy plan. While your cooktop uses relatively little energy, it’s important to consider what kind of energy you’re using for cooking. If all of the other appliances in your house are powered by electricity, you could save a lot of money by using electricity for your cooktop, too. This is because you won’t have to pay daily connection charges for 2 types of energy.

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The impact of efficient appliances

Compared to a typical New Zealand household, a home that has the most efficient appliance options uses less than half the amount of energy overall.

Every home is different and will have different needs — the scenario in the graphs below represents a household with 3 people and two cars. The most efficient home has a heat pump, a hot water heat pump, an induction cooktop, electric vehicles and solar panels.

The efficient home is also better for the environment, producing 85% less greenhouse gas emissions. This is because there's no direct use of fossil fuels like petrol, diesel or gas. Around 80-85% of New Zealand’s electricity is supplied by clean energy sources like hydro and wind. Home-generated electricity from rooftop solar is 100% renewable, producing zero emissions.

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