Home Energy Saver - Anna M

Published 29 November 2021

Home Energy Saver - Anna, Dino and Suzi

Meet Anna. Anna (a yo-pro), and her two cats Dino and Suzi live in an adorable 1-bedroom 50 sqm ‘sixties standout’ studio apartment with sweeping views over Wellington City.

After finding out about the Wellington Home Energy Saver on Reddit (of all places) she booked in with Karl. We followed up to see how she got on a few months after the assessment.

Anna had been on the house hunt for about a year before she found her new home. “I was super excited to be in my own little place, but yeah it gets cold pretty quickly. Being built in the 60s basically means they used a4 paper for the walls.. and windows’’.

How did you hear about the Wellington Home Energy Saver Programme?

‘’I think I heard about it on Reddit.. and saw that Sustainability Trust was contracted to do it so I just booked in and here we are’’.

Do you know anyone else who has had a WHESP?

‘’No actually, but after I had mine I raved about it to everyone, friends, neighbours. Even my parents had one. They’re out in the Hutt so they had to pay for theirs’’.

Sustainability Trust’s Home Performance Assessor, Karl Wheddon assessed Anna’s home.  Here’s what she had to say about it.

‘’This property was previously a rental. There was no heating and no absolutely no ventilation. There wasn’t even a range hood over the stove. When Karl came through, I was in the process of having a heat pump installed which was one of Karl’s recommendations. He also recommended that I get an extractor fan put in the bathroom, which I have done’’.

‘’His advice about the extractor fan was interesting, stuff that I hadn’t even considered. He said it’s best to keep the door closed after showers and let the fan suck all the moisture out of the room. I’m much more diligent about doing that’’.

‘’Karl also said that the biggest problem for the property is that the windows are massive and single-glazed. I’m planning to get double-glazing at some stage, but for now, the double-layered curtains he suggested, have done the trick!’’.

There were a couple of comments Karl made that really surprised Anna.

‘’When Karl was here the head of the bed was up against the bedroom window and he said that I should move it to the other wall because I could be breathing in the cold air from the wall and the window. As you can see, I moved it’’.

‘’In the kitchen, he told me that my oven was too close to the fridge. He said that when the oven is on the heat will transfer to the fridge, meaning the fridge will have to work harder to stay cool. He actually helped me move the fridge’’.

‘’Oh, he also roasted me for drying my clothes inside. He raised a good point about the clothes being heavy with water when they come out of the wash. That moisture has to go somewhere. Now, I’m more organised about when I do my washing’’.

‘’We also talked a lot about ventilation. I thought I understood what it meant to air out your home. But I was surprised to hear how you’re supposed to open windows at opposite ends of the house which creates a tunnel for the air to circulate through the house’’.

We spotted a Scoopy and Hygrometer on Anna’s kitchen bench.

‘’Karl recommended the Scoopy condensation collector. I already had one from when I was living in Christchurch. It’s great, I use it all the time. He did recommend the Hygrometer, which I am obsessed with. You know in high school when you did tests/experiments that you’d have to present. Well, it’s like that for me. I move it around the house and take photos that I send to my parents. I can’t get the humidity under 55% though’’.

Having followed through with most of the recommendations, have you noticed a difference in how your home functions and feels?

‘When I first moved in it was just me and my fan heater. Now that I have a heat pump and know more about ventilation and other homecare tips, it certainly feels way warmer’’.

Last question, did the visit encourage you to think more carefully about carbon impact and energy use?

‘’Probably not because I’m already pretty aware of that stuff. I already take short showers (although I do love the shower timer he gave me) and my showerhead is pretty efficient anyway. I don’t have a drier and the space is small so really easy to heat. We did talk about composting and EVs. I just bought a petrol car, but I’ll probably get an EV next. I don’t compost because it’s a bit tricky here. But he made some valid points, and I took a lot away from the assessment’’.

If you’re a Wellington City Ratepayer, you can book this assessment free of charge.

If you are renting in Wellington City, you can book a similar behaviour-based assessment for your property.