Home Energy Saver - Simon and Kate
Published 21 Dec 2020
Home Energy Saver assessments
Why wouldn’t you book in for a free Wellington Home Energy Saver assessment?
Meet Simon, Kate, Rosco, Zahra, Pedro & Beans - a family of six who have found a home in a charming 1950's north-facing build in Brooklyn, Wellington.
We sat down with Simon to hear how life has been treating them since they bought the property in April 2019 and what he's hoping to get from the Wellington Home Energy Saver Programme.
Kia ora Simon, do you mind telling us a little bit about who lives here?
There are six of us living here. Two Greyhounds: Zahra and Rosco. Zahra is a black ex-racing Greyhound, who ended her career by sitting down at the start line. Rosco is a grey Greyhound who didn't make the racing cut (phew!) and is a big fan of a good cuddle and a pat. Then we have two cats: Beans and Pedro. Beans is a black and white cat who silently rules the roost. Best known for watching TV and giving Rosco a good boop on the nose when the occasion calls for it. Last up we have Pedro. Pedro has kitty asthma and snores quite loudly (also sounds a bit like Chewbacca when he purrs).
Then there's Kate and I. Both Kate and I work in the public service. I work at Justice and Kate works at Health. If left to my own devices (and money wasn't a factor) I'd probably start my own running shop. I love running. I'm also big on basketball.
Sounds like you've got quite a full house. Speaking of house, do you mind telling us a little bit about the property and how you ended up here?
We weren't really looking for a place in Wellington when we stumbled across this 130 sqm gem. To be honest, we didn't think we could afford to live in the city. But when we found this place, knew we had to make it work. Sure, it needed a fair bit of work but we wanted it and the rest is history.
So far, we've replaced the roof, then we painted the whole house inside and out. We did our research and got some honeycomb blinds because of their thermal properties and next on the list is putting double glazed windows in.
Doing your research is a good move. Investing in double-glazing is as well. What are you hoping to get out of this Wellington Home Energy Saver Assessment?
We're lucky to be north-facing, so we get a bit of sun. We're also in a bit of a high-wind zone, so we'd like to know what we can do about moisture issues.
On to the assessment...
During the assessment, our assessor Craig did a full walkthrough of the property. He looked at heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture, draught issues and lighting. Here's an overview of what he discussed.
Heat pump functions, efficiency and tips on how to use it
Best options for heating for a spare room / part-time office
Solutions for an unvented drier
Shower and water usage
How to get the most out of a dehumidifier
Why you shouldn't dry your clothes on an airing rack inside the house.
So Simon, there was a fair bit of information in there. What we're you surprised to learn about?
Woah, yeah. How to use my heat pump actually. I've tried to google it but it was really confusing and didn't actually help me. This is probably going to sound stupid but we thought that 'auto' just meant that the heat pump was tuned to heat to 22 degrees, not also cool to 22 degrees - which explains why it would pump out cold air when it was already 22 degrees in the house. Also really interesting to hear about why you shouldn't dry clothes inside. I hadn't thought about where the moisture goes. I was also surprised to hear that the drier isn't that expensive to run, which is good. But yeah, we will need to sort out an outdoor washing line.
Last up, would you recommend this service to others?
Funnily enough, I heard about WHESP through a workmate who told me that you can get this great free assessment where someone comes to your house and looks for efficiency gains. Since he was recommending I had just assumed that he'd had it done, turns out he hadn't. So yeah, I will be going back to him about it for sure!
If you own your home in Wellington and would benefit from one of these assessments, get in touch.
They’re free, all thanks to Wellington City Council.