Conduct a simple home power audit

To minimise your energy use, start by finding out how much power you are using. Here is a simple three-step guide to measuring your energy use:

1. Locate your electricity/gas meter/s and note down all the readings. (If you cannot find your meter, then call your energy supplier).
2. A week later, at about the same time of day, take another reading.
3. Deduct the first reading from the second reading.

Now you have a baseline figure of energy use and can start to monitor how much energy is saved from various energy saving actions you make around the home.

Alternatively you could purchase a power monitor to make power auditing and tracking easy.

Home Energy Rating Scheme (HERS)

Home Energy Ratings are a voluntary initiative to make New Zealanders aware of the energy performance of their houses. It involves a home assessment that will model the energy performance of your home and identify ways that it can be improved. Because the assessment can be done from plans, it is particularly useful when designing a new home or planning major renovations.

See the ENERGYWISE_TM Home energy ratings web page for more information.