About our homes
New Zealand houses reflect our history, culture, and economic fortunes.
Despite recent improvements to building regulations for new dwellings, many urban and rural homes remain cold, damp and expensive to heat.
Read about the following key issues to be aware of and that you may need to take action on if you want a more comfortable home.
On this page:
Key issues
Summary
New Zealand homes:
- were not designed to be energy efficient
- are not adequately insulated
- are draughty and loose heat easily
- rely on ineffective and inefficient heating
- are damp and mouldy.
Poor design
Many simple energy-efficient measures, such as making the most of the sun, were not included in housing design and construction practices. This applies to housing for across all income groups in New Zealand. [1.]
Poorly insulated
A major energy and health issue is the lack of insulation in New Zealand homes built before 1978, before insulation became mandatory.
Research indicates that around 375,000 New Zealand homes have inadequate ceiling insulation and over one million have inadequate underfloor insulation. [2.]
Too damp and mouldy
Moisture and mould problems are common in New Zealand homes.
Too much moisture inside a house:
- is unhealthy particularly for people with respiratory problems
- encourages dust mites, which are linked to allergies and asthma
- makes rooms harder to heat (because heat energy is absorbed by moisture before the temperature can rise).
Poor Quality Heating
Many homes don’t have enough heating and the heating they do have is inefficient.
Open fires can actually make your house colder overall and a recent study showed they can be detrimental to your health and the health of people who live in the area around your house.[3.]
Take action
Make a start today
1. Work through each of the topics in the Your home section to learn more about how you can make the improvements to your home’s insulation, heating etc.
2. Use the online calculator to find out how much energy you use in your home and create your own action plan to make savings.
Notes:
[1.] NZEECS, page 23, 2007.
[2.] New Zealand House Condition Survey, BRANZ, 2005.
[3.] NZEECS, page 23, 2007. A recent study concluded that air pollution contributed to the premature death of around 1,100 people each year in New Zealand. Emissions from open fireplaces in homes were identified as a significant contributing source.