SR115 Energy use in NZ households - report on year 6 of the Household Energy End-Use Project (HEEP) (2007)

This report covers the activities of the sixth full year of the Household Energy End-use Project (HEEP) and is based on data from 100 houses in Auckland, Wellington and Hamilton. The year 6 monitoring is being carried out in Auckland (50 houses), Waikanae (10 houses) and Christchurch (37 houses).

New Zealand households use less energy than many other developed countries (around 10,500 kWh per household per year), possibly due to lower indoor winter temperatures. A correlation between house age (since 1978 thermal insulation has been required) and winter evening temperatures was found, but no correlation with house income.

The report discusses use of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) heaters and opportunities for improving the energy efficiency of hot water system, compares energy use for natural gas and electric hot water cylinders and provides a breakdown of household energy end-uses.

As with previous annual reports, further background to the study and the monitoring methodology are provided.