Six Good Electrification Decisions in the Next Ten Years

Our CEO, Georgie Ferrari, shares her reflections on the journey to an electric home—inspired by a recent trip to Tāhuna Queenstown.

I recently had the good fortune to attend Rewiring Aotearoa's Electrify Queenstown conference. There, CEO Mike Casey shared a simple but powerful challenge: make six good decisions within the next ten years.

These six decisions are as follows.

Shifting to:

• Electric hot water heating (hot water heat pump)

• Electric space heating (heat pumps)

• Electric cooking

• Rooftop solar

• Battery storage

• An electric vehicle

This list may feel daunting. These are significant purchases and, for many people, only practical if you own your home and have the funds for upgrades. However, if we take it one step at a time and break down the process, it starts to look a lot more manageable. So, why spread them over ten years?

The first reason is cost. While the initial investment may be significant, Rewiring Aotearoa has done extensive research showing that the economics of electrification stack up over time. In many cases, households can come out ahead financially even if they need to borrow money to make the switch. Their online calculator allows you to estimate the savings for your own home and transport needs.

The second reason is timing. Over the next decade, there's a good chance you'll need to replace several of these big-ticket items anyway. Replacing an appliance at its natural end-of-life is often the smartest and most cost-effective approach. For example, my own electrification plan was sped up when I was looking into electrifying my hot water. When my plumber came to investigate, he discovered a slow leak and a cylinder that was well past its use-by date. Clearly, it was time for a replacement.

But that's where having a plan becomes so important.

Most tradespeople will naturally recommend replacing like-for-like. If your gas hot water system fails, the easiest solution is often to take the old one off the wall and put a newer version of the same one in its place.  For them, it's quick, familiar, and low-risk.

However, if you've already thought through your electrification journey, you're in a much stronger position. Whether your existing system suddenly fails at 5pm on a Friday before a long weekend, or you're replacing it proactively before it reaches the end of its life— you'll know what technology you want, where it's going to go, and roughly what it will cost.

A good plan turns a stressful emergency into a confident decision.

Whether you're thinking about hot water, heating, or EV charging, Sustainability Trust can provide a free quote for a variety of electrification services. We're proud of our trusted, independent advice on what makes the most sense for your home and which products might best suit your needs.

For more than 20 years, we've been helping Wellingtonians improve their homes' energy performance. We're passionate about reducing emissions, creating warm and healthy houses, and helping families save money on energy bills.

The best time to plan for electrification is before you need it.

• To read more about my electrification journey, click here.

• To find out more about electrification services we offer, take a look here.

• Rewiring Aotearoa has also produced a nifty electrification plan; you can find it here: www.rewiring.nz/plan