How Energy Efficient Is Your Home? Rank It Here Now...

As Winter is drawing near (each morning seems to be getting cooler!) I thought it a great opportunity to write a post about energy efficiency. After doing a bit of research, I came across this fantastic post from unconditional.co.nz about just that. Did you know, in 2010 it was reported that 1.0 million out of our 1.6 million homes are poorly insulated? Not only is it unhealthy to live in a poorly insulated home but it costs a fortune on power bills.

There is a great website Homestar where you can do a quick checklist of the build of the home, location and age of the home to determine how the home ranks. Homestar also offers some really great tips like the following:
How to renovate to save money

• Employ good passive solar design with your builder or architect to maximise warming winter sun and cooling summer breezes.
• Ensure high insulation standards in the walls, floor and ceiling, creating deeper wall cavities to hold more insulation wherever possible.
• Don’t use recessed downlights, which penetrate the thermal envelope, or use IC-F certified fittings with appropriate insulation.
• Place double glazing with low-e glass and thermally broken aluminium or wooden window frames throughout the house.
• Install an energy efficient heat pump through a registered installer who will advise you on the best system for your requirements.
• Install appliances that have high energy label ratings – fridges need a minimum of three and a half stars, dishwashers and clothes washers should have a minimum of four stars.
• Use low energy lighting such as fluorescent or LED wherever possible (ideally at least 75 per cent of the house).

And with that all said, wishing my readers a warm and snug winter!