What do I get from a consult?

A plan in writing: what to change at your house, in what order, and what each change saves you a year. Here’s a real one, from a visit in Bellbrae in September.

The plan’s three pages. Each one is below, full size.

Page 1: the short version

It opens with what costs nothing, because that’s where most houses start.

1 2 3 4

1. The year’s total first. At this house, three changes that cost nothing came to ~$910 a year.
2. A table that adds up, with five and ten years beside each change, so you can see what it’s worth while you live there.
3. Why, one paragraph each, in the words on your bills: the EV charging at the highest rate, the gas heating, the pool heater running all winter, and what the energy plan is still worth.
4. A chart, where one helps. Here, what a unit of heat cost them from the gas, from the ducted air con on the grid, and from their own solar.

Page 2: the plan, in order

Ten steps, in the order I’d do them, and the last three are where I tell them to wait.

1 2 3

1. This week, at no cost: the apps, the pool heater’s timer, the EV and the heating. None of it asks them to change when they run the dishwasher.
2. Over the next few weeks: the energy plan on a full year of meter data, a check on the underfloor heating, and a cable through the shed roof that will leak onto the inverter, with the part that fixes it.
3. Later, once we have better numbers: a heat pump and a battery would each cost more than they save at this house today, so the answer is not yet, and when to look again.

Page 3: what’s fine as it is

Their pool heater is the most efficient in its range and less than five years old, so a new one would never pay for itself, and the plan says so. Then what I need from them to compare every energy plan, and the ways I can help from there.

What happened next

They told me the underfloor heating was a big part of why they bought the house, and they’d rather keep it than heat with the ducted air con, whatever it saves. So the next day I redid step 8 around the floors, in a one-page addendum: a heat pump can run the same pipes, but it doesn’t pay back yet, and the time to look again is when the boiler needs replacing.

The EV now charges from their own solar, which is ~$490 of the ~$910 a year, and they planned to run the pool heater at midday from late spring.

“We really like the way everything is set out, it’s very clear and thorough.”

What yours would cover

The same three things, for your house: what to change, in what order, and what each change saves you a year. I read your bills and any quotes you’re holding before I visit, so the plan starts from what you actually use. What goes in it depends on what you have, from solar that should be saving more to a quote you want checked.