Australian Homeowners Review Their High-Performance and Energy-Efficient Homes

This review is based on survey responses from Australian owners of energy-efficient homes.

Almost all homeowners felt they had enough time in their new home to assess its performance. Most responded that they were happy with how well the home performs. A small group of owners were unsure how they felt. No homeowners were unhappy with the performance of their new home.

Energy Savings and Cost Savings.

80% of homeowners said their new home was cheaper to run than their previous home. The others were not able to compare due to factors like a new pool or heater, solar, home battery or change in occupant number.

85% of homeowners were satisfied with the cost to run their new home and have realised the reductions in running costs that they were expecting. 20% of this group have achieved better reductions than they were expecting.

For a small group of homeowners, about 15%, running costs were higher than expected and they were not satisfied with their new running costs.

Homeowner Estimates of Annual Savings

(minus income from solar or home battery)

Estimated Annual Savings	Percentage Of Homeowners
$1000-$2000	25%
$2000-$3000	33%
$4000-$5000	9%
Unsure	33%

All homeowners responded that they had a solar on the roof, or provisions made for later installation. Only 25% of homes had a battery installed.   

Thermal comfort, excellent air quality, no mould in the home and a quiet house.

Homeowners frequently referred to how thermally comfortable their homes were, and that they liked how the indoor temperature remained stable throughout the year. They valued how quickly and easily they were able to heat or cool their home with a small amount of air-conditioning. There were positive comments about the indoor air quality provided by the HRV, with fewer odours and not needing to open windows for ventilation. This led to less external noise being noticeable and the calmness it created in the house. Homeowners also liked the ability to control humidity and the absence of mould in the home.

In most cases, the language was emphatic:

“the comfort is amazing,”

“thermal efficiency is excellent,”

“entirely satisfied,”

“we’re really satisfied with the performance of our home.”

Lifestyle improvements.

Most respondents (80%) reported that the performance of their home had improved their lifestyle. The others were unsure. All homeowners felt they have benefitted from a reduction of outside noise coming into the house. A question specifically asking whether homeowners felt they had benefitted from improved air quality in the home has since been added, but comments in long answer section dealing with lifestyle improvements reference "fresh air" in the home. These are some of the comments from homeowners about how the performance of their homes has benefited their lives:

“I love walking into my house and hate leaving it.”

“I've become temporarily disabled and my recovery relies upon stable temperatures, so this renovation was well timed and ideal for my particular circumstances.”

“We definitely feel the benefit of evenly distributed temperatures around the whole house.”

“Comfort, mood, better sleep, efficiencies like hair and clothes drying quickly, ability to store things anywhere incl. attic and not worry about them growing mould, smelling or deteriorating; no need to partition zones for heating and cooling, very little human effort going into adjusting the environment in an attempt to create comfort.”

“So quiet and so comfortable we feel heathier.”

“We're more focused on keeping doors (internal & external) closed to stop heat/cool leaving the house since we're only using RCAC during the 3x hour window. But once we get solar, that can be slightly more relaxed as we can run it later in the day if required. It's nice not feeling freezing when you get up in the morning or to pee in the middle of the night!”

“I don't have to wear so many layers at home in winter and only have one doona.” 

“Consistent clothing all year round. Not waking up freezing. Motivates you to get out of bed.”

The small number of unsure responses referred to overheating in summer, internal winter temperature and winter humidity challenges. Read more about this in Are there Any Lessons We Can Take Away From Homeowner Feedback?

Australian Homeowners Review Their High-Performance and Energy-Efficient Homes