Energy checks lead to savings

STACY SQUIRES/The Press

HAPPY: Rangiora's Beth Tavui has benefited from a free home energy check by EcoSmartHome and a new heat pump.

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Beth Tavui loves her heat pump, her house is warm and her son does not get sick as often as he used to.

The Rangiora woman is one of 400 people in North Canterbury to benefit from a free home energy assessment by EcoSmartHome, a new venture set up by New Zealand's fastest growing company Energy Mad known for selling more than 3.5 million Ecobulbs in New Zealand.

Energy Mad co-founders and directors Chris Mardon and Tom Mackenzie launched the project in South Canterbury, Tasman and Waipa in the King Country yesterday.

They hope to have 14,500 homes assessed by the end of March next year, which could save $10.8m in power bills each year, based on annual household savings of $750, Mardon said.

Christchurch, Tauranga, Auckland, Wellington and Northland would be added this year.

Energy Mad has employed eight assessors to check people's homes and make recommendations to save money on the power bill.

It has teamed up with utility companies and power trusts, including MainPower and LineTrust South Canterbury, who pay half the $200 cost of the home assessment.

Energy Mad, which also hoped to get some funding from Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority, pay the rest.

It has secured deals with suppliers to sell heat pumps, insulation, pellet fires, clean air log burners, and cylinder wraps cheaper than the retail price.

The scheme also offers five-year interest free loans.

Tavui was advised to get a heat pump to replace a costly oil heater she was using in the morning after her clean-burning log burner had long gone out the night before.

The pump cost $3000 and Tavui was paying it off using the five-year interest free loan.

Despite using the pump more often than the oil heater, she was now saving more than $30 a month on her power bill, which was more than covering her repayments.

- © Fairfax NZ News