Note: This information is intended as general advice only and may not account for your unique circumstances such as usage habits, home and power provider.
Are you looking for ways to cut costs but heat your home in the process? It can be a challenge balancing warmth and the wallet, but we’ve compiled a number of handy efficiency tips to help you bring the power bill down.
In this guide you’ll learn things like:
- Using natural light and air to help keep a room clean and fresh
- Choosing the right heater for minimal energy consumption
- Cost-effective insulation
Insulation
A well-insulated house demands far less from powered heating options than homes without. If you’re in the process of looking for a new home, we’d suggest adding floor, ceiling and wall insulation to your list of criteria. While new homes need a decent level of insulation as part of modern building code, any older character homes may lack this, especially if they’ve not been rented and thus subjected to the healthy homes standards.
Insulation of the home’s cavities is a matter of packing out the gaps between the framing with a material that has thermal properties that will reduce the transfer of temperatures from outside the home through the cladding into the home and vice versa.
If you’re living in an older home that lacks the insulation required to create what’s known as the ‘thermal envelope’, then you might want to look into getting quotes to have this work done. While an upfront cost, there’s the long-term monthly heating costs to consider too. Once you have quotes, compare them against the average winter power bill. If you have usage data, you’ll be able to see where the power usage spikes are in your daily heating. If you can establish a % of your winter power dedicated to heating the house, use this to compare against the upfront cost of insulation installation. How many months/years will it take to recoup the cost? It may not be that long at all.
And if you’re considering renting out your home, the decision is practically made for you - you need a level of insulation compliant with the healthy homes standards to be able to operate a legitimate tenancy.
Double glazing
If you want to create the ultimate insulation in your home, you won’t just want to pack in the floor, ceiling and walls, but windows as well. If you’re in a place with single glazing, you could be losing over 15% of your heat through your windows. Double glazing consists of two panes of glass separated by air or gas that works to insulate from outside temperatures and retain home temperature.
Double glazing, combined with this other insulation can totally transform your home from cold and damp to warm and dry. It’s why many new homes experience much more reasonable winter power bills than older homes - their homes’ work a lot less to provide a comfortable living temperature.
The biggest barrier to double glazing is undoubtedly the cost; doing a complete home can fetch well into the tens of thousands of dollars. Alternatively, and what many Kiwi homeowners opt for, is to simply prioritise double glazing by room, starting with those rooms most affected by lack of sunlight, poor heat retention and signs of mould or dampness. This is commonly the south facing parts of the home where less natural light comes in. You may also want to ensure bedrooms are double glazed first, keeping the family warmer at nighttime.
Ventilation systems
We provide a lot of information about ventilation systems in our Powershop guides. That’s because these systems offer some of the more running cost-efficient air temperature control available. While getting a system installed is a considerable cost, choosing a home with a ventilation system already in place is a very smart choice.
Ventilation systems may help your power consumption become more efficient for a number of reasons:
- The air is cycled regularly, meaning old, damp, musty air does not build up and create overly-moisture filled environments.
- These systems create a dry home which will heat up much faster.
- Natural sunlight coming into the home will have a much bigger impact on internal temperature than a home suffering from dampness.
- They run constantly but are designed to do so with minimal draw from the power. At certain times a ventilation system may ramp up, but as default they are sipping energy with continual operation.
From a comfort, wellness and budgetary perspective, it may still be worth investing in a new ventilation system installation.
Natural light and airflow
Nature’s free ventilation and air quality systems - air and sunlight. Opening up the home on a clear day is so important to keep the home smelling fresh and to help old musty air exit the home, while allowing fresh air to enter. And with natural light, you’re both saving on lighting costs, and gaining the benefits that sunlight has to provide; heat into the home and to kill bacteria with UV light.
The best part about harnessing any natural light and heat in winter is you’re bringing down usage in a period that’s typically more expensive for power when the demand on the grid is high. Granted, natural light and heat will be much less in winter than summer, but if we’re sure about one thing, it’s New Zealand weather’s tendency to change dramatically day to day, year-round.
Generating fresh air flow through the home should be coupled with cleaning off any mould from walls or windowsills. In the evening you should notice how much easier heating becomes at a lower setting and temperature. Make airing the house out part of your cleaning routine and the impact will be evident in your power bill.
Heating only part of the home
Warming a house in winter doesn’t necessarily have to be a matter of keeping every room in the house at peak temperature. In fact, many homes may have rooms that are seldom used in winter like guest bedrooms and dining areas. Instead, try heating only the living area and the occupied bedrooms.
Section off the house by closing doors and reduce the power and temperature of your heating appliance accordingly. With less square meterage to warm up, your energy usage should drop significantly.
Timing your heating or regulating temperature
Don’t forget to switch off heating once you’ve hit a desired temperature - whether it’s automatically through the heater’s thermostat, or manually. Heating doesn't need to be on constantly to do the job - especially if you’ve got some good insulation in place to prevent heat escaping quickly.
When you’re looking to make winter heating more efficient, it’s worth picking key moments in the day to operate the heater. If you have a timer function with multiple on/off cycles, here’s an example of key times to set the heater for:
- 1am-3am when temperature is at its coldest
- 5:30am just before the house wakes up
- 5pm-6pm as the temperature drops for the evening
- 8:30-10pm after cooking and eating is finished
What works for one household may not work for another, so our advice here is to experiment with getting the least heater usage as possible.
The right heater for the job
Don’t waste power by using a heater that isn’t up for the task. And this works both ways; a large heater in a small room draws too much power for a room that doesn’t require much heat. In fact, it can make the room too hot and even be a safety risk. A small heater like a standalone fan heater might be okay for the odd occasion in a small office, but it won’t adequately heat a living area. Heaters are built for certain jobs, so matching the heater to the room or areas of the home appropriately will provide the best in power efficiency.