We are helping NSW householders reduce their energy use and save on power bills through home energy assessments and home energy ratings.
Latest update
We are offering free in-home energy assessments for selected households in NSW through our delivery partner Instinct & Reason as part of the NSW Home Energy Study. By taking part in these energy assessments, we can help you improve energy efficiency in your home and save money.
If you are contacted and need more information, please email [email protected].
Home energy assessment
A home energy assessment, also known as a home energy audit, can help you understand the whole picture of your home's energy use, level of comfort and safety.
An assessment can help you determine:
- how much energy your home uses
- problem areas affecting the energy efficiency of your home
- solutions to save energy and improve your household comfort.
Home energy rating
A home energy rating can be generated by an energy assessor as part of a home energy assessment. It can provide you with a better understanding of your home’s energy performance by allocating a rating between 1 and 10 stars. This is like the stars you may have seen on appliances such as fridges and washing machines. The star rating covers both your building and fixed appliances.
A home energy rating can help your household to:
- understand your home energy use.
- identify ways to improve the comfort of your home in winter and summer
- learn how to make home improvements that are efficient and cost effective
- discover how to reduce your energy use and lower your environmental footprint.
If you are interested in getting an energy rating for your home, you can visit the Residential Efficiency Scorecard. It is a tool endorsed by the Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) that rate an existing home's performance.
Home energy study
We are currently approaching selected households in NSW through letter drops, phone calls or knocks on the door to take part in a free in-home energy assessment. All in-home assessments will be completed by accredited assessors.
If you are contacted, we encourage you to get your energy efficiency assessed to understand your household’s energy performance and identify ways to make improvements around your home.
The assessments are part of the NSW Home Energy Study, in partnership with Instinct & Reason and the University of Wollongong. They aim to find out the energy efficiency of homes built before 2004. The data collected will help develop policies and programs for the future of housing in NSW.
The study runs until March 2024.
Home energy ratings in apartments
The Energy Efficiency in Apartments Pilot investigated the energy performance of 54 individual residential units across low, medium and high-rise apartments. The Residential Efficiency Scorecard energy ratings for individual units were reviewed together with the National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) ratings to look for common areas and find opportunities to improve ‘whole of building’ energy efficiency for apartments.
This project was completed in June 2023.
Some key findings were:
- Apartment dwellings had an average 4.1 stars out of 10 stars Scorecard energy rating.
- About 27% of household participants were planning to do upgrades.
- Most household participants found the assessor and scorecard rating useful.
- The largest barrier to installing energy saving technologies was the requirement of owners corporation approval.
For a copy of the report, please email [email protected].
Energy efficient upgrades for homes
Home renovations provide a great opportunity to include more energy efficiency in a home. The Energy Efficiency in Retrofits Pilot investigated how energy assessments, energy star ratings, financial incentives and other interventions can encourage householders to include energy efficiency in house upgrades and house renovations.
The research covered 98 households across 3 regional local government areas in NSW. It found ways for participants to include energy efficiency in their home upgrades. This project was completed in June 2023.
For a copy of the report, please email [email protected].
The three projects above have used the Residential Efficiency Scorecard tool to support the home energy assessment.
Find out more
To organise your own home energy assessment, contact an accredited Scorecard Assessor.
To receive advice about energy efficiency upgrades for your home, contact an Accredited Certificate Provider.
Find out more about the NSW Energy Savings Scheme and financial incentives to improve the energy efficiency of equipment and appliances.