Your energy spend
The first step towards making your home energy efficient is knowing what your household spends energy on.
On this page
How you use energy at home
Although every household will use energy slightly differently, the average family household uses energy (electricity, gas, wood etc) for the following: [1.]
The pie diagram shows that you use about:
- a third of your household energy keeping warm (34%)
- a third on hot water (29%), and
- a third on other uses: lighting, cooking, refrigeration, running appliances. (37%).
Your energy spend
In a typical New Zealand household, electricity accounts for most (69%) of household fuel use.
Solid fuels (wood etc) account for 24%, gas 9% and LPG 2%.
As energy prices increase, it makes good sense to look for ways that you can reduce the amount of energy you use in your home and use this energy as efficiently as possible.
Research has shown that for every dollar spent on improving basic energy efficiency measures, such as draught stopping and insulation, the householder realises $2.20 in health and energy savings. [2.]
Take action
Make a start today
To find out more about the basic issues to take action on go to the section About our homes.
More information
- Power bill a shocker? Quick tips to save money on your power bill (PDF 98KB)
- Compare power prices online at PowerSwitch.