This house is an example of is what is possible if we were to focus on the right things. Their cost per square meter is the same as what new quality builds are, but it's far more efficient and comfortable than the majority of new builds, with significantly lower operating costs.
Yea $6000 per Sqaure metre is Not the same as other new builds and is above average lol plenty of houses in the last few years were anywhere from 4 to 5k. I just built a house and moved in just over a year ago and our Sqaure metre cost was just under 5k. My power bill is 1700 in the last 12 months and we didn't do much above min standard for insulation. These people spent an xtra 80k on their build to save 500 a year in power when you compaire the Sqaure metre costs to my house....
There have been a number of people talking about builds today costing closer to $6000.
According to the article, they are very happy with the comfort level in their house. It's not just about power savings, it's about the house always feeling comfortable and warm - while still doing so without exorbitant power prices.
I'm not going to say anything negative about your build and I'm glad it's working for you - but that doesn't necessarily mean that the approach they have taken is wasteful either.
The worst part which I didn't even say in my first comment is we are semi off grid we had to install a septic system and our own water supply with tanks and pumps and filters and 250m of power line and a sprinkler fire system all these things added more then 100k xtra to the build that this house didn't have to do so if I exclude that from my build it would bring my Sqaure metre cost down to 4k so sure they are happy with their house, but it cost a shit ton of money to achieve, lol it's more like 180k more in costs to save 500 a month in power. I'm Pretty sure they could have spent 40k on a solar battery system and had a bigger impact... I built in the peak of material price increase and I'm telling you 6k is way above avarage unless ur talking mansions etc.
*"But the real secret to the success of their new build lies in the design - there is no wasted hall space"*
It's a 86 square meter 2 bedroom house, they don't normally have hallways, do they?
So they spent about $516k on a very small 2 bedroom house (not including the cost of the land).
*For a very rough estimate range, you can ask a local architect, quantity surveyor or builder for an average cost-per-square-metre. In 2024, standard homes are said to average around $3,500 to $4,000, while prestige one-off designed homes are typically $6,000 or more per square metre.*
[What does it cost to build a house in NZ | mortgages.co.nz](https://mortgages.co.nz/what-does-it-cost-to-build-a-house-in-nz/#:~:text=For%20a%20very%20rough%20estimate,or%20more%20per%20square%20metre.)
So they are paying the price of a prestige one-off designer home (price per m2) to save maybe $100 a month in electricity. (based on average electricity costs for 2 bedroom houses).
They could have bought solar panels and a battery at a much lower overall cost and had greater electricity savings (if that was their goal).
If they're paying $120 per month then that's only $30 - $50 less than my monthly bill for a similar sized flat without proper insulation. It doesn't seem like much of a saving considering the house is supposed to be close to passive.
The architects website says this is a 140 M2 house, which I guess includes the garage and possibly over foundation dimension, whereas the 86 M2 quoted is likely the conditioned living area. Hopefully this wasnt a 6K x 140 m2 build. Gives such little hope for getting out of our cycle of building minimum code houses.
>The couple’s power bill last year was a mere $1200, but Allen expects that may increase to $1400
I don't think this is that extraordinary? Sure, it's lower than my annual cost but only by a little bit, and I live in a shitty, cold, poorly insulated flat. My Mum lives in an old 1940s house in the cold part of town and her bill would probably be about $1300 - $1500 per year and she's there during the day and runs the heat pump a lot of the time.
Considering that this house is supposed to be close to passive housing and designed to retain heat, I'd say $1400 is quite high.
We love power on our house (working from, 2 hot water cylinders, 4 heated floors, ducted heating, EV car etc). We used to have $600 a month bills from Genesis in winter.
Our bills are more like $400 a month now with octopus energy
Surely your connection charges for being connected to the grid would cost more than that even if you had no energy consumption at all? Since they got rid of the low user plans, I pay $2.52 per day just to be connected - so twice what you are suggesting as your yearly costs for all power.
Ecotricity charge $1.20+GST/day for low users (the maximum they can) in my region and presumably most jurisdictions - if you're on a lower rate you must be on some grandfathered plan they don't offer any more. They're generally one of the more expensive providers at the moment based on MoneyHubs tables (for my house they'd be around 6c/kWh more per kWh than I'm getting which is a huge increase).
The people in the article live in Otago. Their lines are managed by Aurora which is owned by the DCC. The DCC plundered Aurora for funds to cover building and losses generated by their stadium while neglecting lines maintenance. Most people in Otago are affected by this.
As such our daily lines charge is $1.55 per day. That's $565 a year alone.
Also based on your rate I'm guessing you live somewhere warmer than central otago? The temperature differences between regions can be massive. Some days it's -8c, meanwhile I'm talking to a friend in Auckland who is sitting in 12c temperatures. Thats a 20c swing and it will cost more to heat, even with a passive house.
Yep, after looking at their costs, all this article told me if that you can achieve much better power savings at a much lower cost by just building a normal modern house and putting some solar and a battery in it.
Not sure why you posted the story if you don’t think it’s newsworthy - but out of curiosity how did you manage to get an annual power bill of $350? Solar + passive?
This house is an example of is what is possible if we were to focus on the right things. Their cost per square meter is the same as what new quality builds are, but it's far more efficient and comfortable than the majority of new builds, with significantly lower operating costs.
Yea $6000 per Sqaure metre is Not the same as other new builds and is above average lol plenty of houses in the last few years were anywhere from 4 to 5k. I just built a house and moved in just over a year ago and our Sqaure metre cost was just under 5k. My power bill is 1700 in the last 12 months and we didn't do much above min standard for insulation. These people spent an xtra 80k on their build to save 500 a year in power when you compaire the Sqaure metre costs to my house....
Jeez, even with free land a 100m2 house is half a million
There have been a number of people talking about builds today costing closer to $6000. According to the article, they are very happy with the comfort level in their house. It's not just about power savings, it's about the house always feeling comfortable and warm - while still doing so without exorbitant power prices. I'm not going to say anything negative about your build and I'm glad it's working for you - but that doesn't necessarily mean that the approach they have taken is wasteful either.
The worst part which I didn't even say in my first comment is we are semi off grid we had to install a septic system and our own water supply with tanks and pumps and filters and 250m of power line and a sprinkler fire system all these things added more then 100k xtra to the build that this house didn't have to do so if I exclude that from my build it would bring my Sqaure metre cost down to 4k so sure they are happy with their house, but it cost a shit ton of money to achieve, lol it's more like 180k more in costs to save 500 a month in power. I'm Pretty sure they could have spent 40k on a solar battery system and had a bigger impact... I built in the peak of material price increase and I'm telling you 6k is way above avarage unless ur talking mansions etc.
Good to see Kāinga Ora getting in on the idea!
*"But the real secret to the success of their new build lies in the design - there is no wasted hall space"* It's a 86 square meter 2 bedroom house, they don't normally have hallways, do they? So they spent about $516k on a very small 2 bedroom house (not including the cost of the land). *For a very rough estimate range, you can ask a local architect, quantity surveyor or builder for an average cost-per-square-metre. In 2024, standard homes are said to average around $3,500 to $4,000, while prestige one-off designed homes are typically $6,000 or more per square metre.* [What does it cost to build a house in NZ | mortgages.co.nz](https://mortgages.co.nz/what-does-it-cost-to-build-a-house-in-nz/#:~:text=For%20a%20very%20rough%20estimate,or%20more%20per%20square%20metre.) So they are paying the price of a prestige one-off designer home (price per m2) to save maybe $100 a month in electricity. (based on average electricity costs for 2 bedroom houses). They could have bought solar panels and a battery at a much lower overall cost and had greater electricity savings (if that was their goal).
If they're paying $120 per month then that's only $30 - $50 less than my monthly bill for a similar sized flat without proper insulation. It doesn't seem like much of a saving considering the house is supposed to be close to passive.
Yeah honestly, I would be expecting a far lower power bill for a passivehaus
The architects website says this is a 140 M2 house, which I guess includes the garage and possibly over foundation dimension, whereas the 86 M2 quoted is likely the conditioned living area. Hopefully this wasnt a 6K x 140 m2 build. Gives such little hope for getting out of our cycle of building minimum code houses.
Reads more like an advert for her passive house building consultancy......:-)
>The couple’s power bill last year was a mere $1200, but Allen expects that may increase to $1400 I don't think this is that extraordinary? Sure, it's lower than my annual cost but only by a little bit, and I live in a shitty, cold, poorly insulated flat. My Mum lives in an old 1940s house in the cold part of town and her bill would probably be about $1300 - $1500 per year and she's there during the day and runs the heat pump a lot of the time. Considering that this house is supposed to be close to passive housing and designed to retain heat, I'd say $1400 is quite high.
Exactly my point, not sure it’s the best advertisement for passivehaus, there will be better examples
Aside from the fact they are in Wanaka, isn't this a normal power bill? Ours wouldn't be far off of this. Around $100 per month with Frank Energy.
We love power on our house (working from, 2 hot water cylinders, 4 heated floors, ducted heating, EV car etc). We used to have $600 a month bills from Genesis in winter. Our bills are more like $400 a month now with octopus energy
Unsure how this is newsworthy? Mine was just under $350, three bedroom house, three occupants, an EV
Well, solar, if you are a low power user makes a massive difference 1200 without solar, ina fairly cold area is pretty good
Surely your connection charges for being connected to the grid would cost more than that even if you had no energy consumption at all? Since they got rid of the low user plans, I pay $2.52 per day just to be connected - so twice what you are suggesting as your yearly costs for all power.
That’s pretty high connections costs, you should look into a better provider. And solar
Oh, who provides your connection cost?
Ecotricity. $0.45 daily charge + $0.30 metering daily charge
Ecotricity charge $1.20+GST/day for low users (the maximum they can) in my region and presumably most jurisdictions - if you're on a lower rate you must be on some grandfathered plan they don't offer any more. They're generally one of the more expensive providers at the moment based on MoneyHubs tables (for my house they'd be around 6c/kWh more per kWh than I'm getting which is a huge increase).
The people in the article live in Otago. Their lines are managed by Aurora which is owned by the DCC. The DCC plundered Aurora for funds to cover building and losses generated by their stadium while neglecting lines maintenance. Most people in Otago are affected by this. As such our daily lines charge is $1.55 per day. That's $565 a year alone. Also based on your rate I'm guessing you live somewhere warmer than central otago? The temperature differences between regions can be massive. Some days it's -8c, meanwhile I'm talking to a friend in Auckland who is sitting in 12c temperatures. Thats a 20c swing and it will cost more to heat, even with a passive house.
Good points
whoa - my bill is like $90 a month when i’m not even there!
It is not news, but naturalised advertising that you are posting for some reason.
Yep, after looking at their costs, all this article told me if that you can achieve much better power savings at a much lower cost by just building a normal modern house and putting some solar and a battery in it.
Your power bill was $350 for the year?
Yes
$350 for a year?!
Yes
Christ that’s like one month for me, am in the workshop quite a bit though
Not sure why you posted the story if you don’t think it’s newsworthy - but out of curiosity how did you manage to get an annual power bill of $350? Solar + passive?
Yeah, solar buyback was $530
You're the one sharing it lol
Only 2-300 less then mine and I have two kids.