The Residential Efficiency Scorecard is new and available across Australia. It is a unique program that provides an energy efficiency star rating for your home.
In the same way as a fridge or washing machine has a star rating, a Scorecard rating shows how much energy is used throughout your home. It differs from a standard NaTHERS Energy Rating in that it takes into consideration not just the building materials, but also other factors, like your appliances and heating and cooling costs. Assessments and information are tailored specifically for your home and are delivered by government-approved assessors.
The star rating provides an easy-to-understand snapshot of how your home copes with hot and cold weather. This allows you to compare your home’s energy use with similar homes and quickly see how to save money on your bills.
Use the Residential Efficiency Scorecard to reduce your household energy bills, cut greenhouse gas emissions and improve home comfort. If you're buying, selling or renting, use the Scorecard as your point of difference - that your home is far more energy efficient (meaning less costs) than similar houses in your area.
It will help you:
The Scorecard provides an energy star rating for your home on a scale from one to ten. A high star rating means your home will use less energy, and cost less to run, than one with a lower star rating. The star rating represents the relative cost of energy to run the fixed appliances in the house.
Homes that achieve a high star rating can expect a lower energy bill than the average home. Currently, the average home is three-star rated so there are opportunities to increase your home’s rating and spend less on your energy bills.
The certificate shows how well the house performs in summer without any cooling and in winter without any heating. These ratings are important because low ratings mean that heat can move relatively easily from outside to in, and inside to out. So even if you have efficient appliances, you will need to use them more to maintain comfortable temperatures inside. For older houses a good level to aim for is three bars or more.
The certificate shows your home’s rating with solar electricity (PV) and without. If you do not have solar PV it will show your star rating and then a star rating to demonstrate what your house would rate if you installed a 2.5kW system.
If you already have solar PV it shows a rating without solar PV so you can decide on what house improvements to target. It also shows what percentage of your fixed appliance cost is met by your solar generation.
The certificate shows the efficiency of each fixed appliance and how much of your energy cost is driven by each of the appliances. It also shows a number of options to improve each appliance category. These options give the highest cost savings as calculated by the Scorecard tool.
A Scorecard assessment only needs to be performed once a home (unless appliances and building materials change, e.g. renovation). All Scorecard assessors across Australia are accredited by the Victorian Government.
It’s important to tell your assessor what you would like to achieve by having an assessment. That way they can make sure they give you the information that will help to achieve the best result for your circumstances and suggestions improvements within your budget.
Based in Wodonga, Australian Energy Raters is accredited as a Scorecard assessor and services various areas throughout Metropolitan and Regional Victoria. Contact them on (02) 6024 1022 for more information, or visit the Victorian Energy Saver website to find another accredited assessor.
