Thinking of home energy as a connected system, rather than unrelated parts, is critical to reduce our carbon emissions – and now there’s a service that puts it all under one roof.
In association with Fisher & Paykel.
Often the most significant business ideas stem from personal need. When Dan Witten-Hannah, CEO of Fisher & Paykel, was building his own home, he wanted it to be carbon net zero. It surprised him how difficult this became. The technology was there, but the coordination across designers, trades and installers was so fragmented. Surely, there should be a more straightforward way to do the right thing, given the importance and urgency of reducing our carbon emissions? It’s this thinking that led Dan to form Fisher & Paykel Home Solutions, part of the company’s carbon-impact approach, and he shoulder-tapped Matt Orr to lead it.
Residential and commercial buildings account for almost 40% of all energy-related carbon emissions globally. By rethinking home energy and comfort as an integrated system, Home Solutions can deliver new efficiency and value for homeowners. Combining front-end design, specification, hardware, installation and lifetime servicing under one roof, the goal is to offer new design choices and coordinated systems that deliver warmer, drier, cooler and more energy-efficient homes, with a reduced carbon footprint.
While the original idea was focused on new builds, Matt’s own home was a century-old villa, complete with drafty openings, an ancient gas-heating system and patchy insulation. Could the concept work for existing homes as well as new ones? It could — with some key differences. With a new home, you’re more likely to do it all at once, and have more opportunity to make changes to the envelope or orientation to improve the result. In an existing home, you’re restrained by the form, and likely to make energy improvements over time.
For Matt, this played out in his personal experience. His goal was to make this fossil- fuel-hungry villa as close to carbon net zero as possible. This meant replacing the gas heating, water heating and appliances; going electric for their cars, and putting solar on the roof to generate renewable energy. To do everything at once was unrealistic and expensive, but with his goal front of mind, he took his family on a decarbonisation journey over a few years.
The first project was solar, designed for the north-facing parts of the villa roof. Solar isn’t usually intended to replace grid-supplied electricity, but to complement it. With a battery, solar energy produced in the middle of the day can be stored for use at power-hungry times like evenings. An EV charger was added to quickly charge electric cars.
Next was hot water. Particularly for those who have solar, but may not have invested in a battery, a solar PV system integrated with hot-water is like a cheat’s battery. It allows you to heat your water with your free, renewable energy, produced in the middle of the day, and store that hot water for use later. The integration with the Haier and Fisher & Paykel SmartHQ app has meant that it’s as easy as pressing a button to switch the water heater to a power-saving ‘Holiday mode’ using a smartphone when the family goes away.
Replacing the gas heating was next. Home Solutions developed the heating and air conditioning design, using much of the existing ducting and adding some new vents. Properly warming up the house, which used to take almost an hour, now takes 10 minutes.
Finally, the gas range was swapped for an induction cooktop, providing instant heat with greater control.
Today the house no longer uses fossil fuels and the energy generated is used effectively, reducing electricity costs. Working towards net carbon zero is both a journey and a destination — an energy-efficient trip well worth taking.
fisherpaykelhomesolutions.com
Words Nicole Stock
Photography Simon Wilson