Keep more warmth in your home.

Colder inland homes and milder coastal homes can have different heating needs. Building condition, insulation, exposure and the rooms you use all influence the result. A regional percentage cannot tell you exactly what one improvement will save.

Use the home draught checklist to prepare a practical list. It ranks actions to investigate without inventing a dollar saving for a house it has not assessed.

Write down what you already know

• The rooms you use, at what times, and which ones lose comfort fastest.
• How the home is heated, and what timer, schedule or zoning controls the system has.
• Who is home during the day, including anyone with health needs or pets.
• Gas appliances, open fireplaces, and any dampness, condensation or mould.
• Whether you own or rent the home, because that decides which changes need permission.

That list keeps the first changes focused on the rooms that matter to your household. It also gives an assessor or installer something specific to work from later.

From safe, accessible areas, check gaps around external doors and windows and notice rooms that lose comfort quickly. Ask about suitable seals, curtains and the treatment of an unused fireplace. If you rent, agree changes with the owner.

Keep required ventilation and combustion-air openings clear. Do not seal flues, cover electrical equipment or enter a roof space. If you have gas appliances, an open fireplace, dampness or condensation, get appropriate advice before changing ventilation.

Never seal a working fireplace. If you are unsure which vents a gas appliance needs, ask a qualified professional before closing any gap near it.

Window coverings can be a practical place to start. In one published ACT Government case study, a renter added blockout curtains, draught-stopping measures and pelmets, which cover the gap above curtains. She reported that the changes helped keep the home comfortable across the seasons. That is her household’s experience rather than a promised saving, and permanent fittings in a rental still need permission.

Heat the occupied rooms where the system and building allow it. Close doors to unused areas when appropriate, use normal comfortable settings and draw suitable curtains when they help retain warmth.

For a long absence, use the controls to suit your return rather than assuming every home should be held at the same setting all day. Read our heating and cooling explainer. People or pets staying home, health needs and how quickly the room changes temperature matter.

A practical routine to try

• Use a timer, schedule or app control to start heating before you come home, where the system has one.
• Choose a normal comfortable setting. An extreme setting is not a reliable shortcut to comfort.
• Draw suitable curtains or blinds on winter evenings to help retain warmth.
• Review zoning and doors with the system’s instructions, so unused rooms are not heated by default.
• Clean filters according to the appliance instructions.

Keeping an empty home at the usual setting uses energy, because warmth keeps escaping through the building. If the home will be empty for several hours, a schedule that suits your return is usually a better starting point. If someone stays home, plan the heating around their needs first.

Record settings, hours of use and comfort alongside daily energy. Compare periods with reasonably similar weather and occupancy. A colder week or extra people at home can obscure the effect of a small change.

Use the appliance cost calculator to understand a running pattern, while remembering that actual heating demand changes with conditions. A rated power input does not mean an inverter unit draws that power continuously.

How to run a fair comparison

1. Find your daily use: divide the kWh on a bill, or in your usage data, by the number of days it covers. ActewAGL customers can view household usage in My.ActewAGL (opens in a new tab).
2. Note the settings, the hours of heating, the rooms heated and how comfortable the home felt.
3. Try one change at a time over several days with similar weather and the same people at home.
4. Alternate the routines rather than giving all the coldest days to one option.

Illustrative calculation only. For a simple running-cost estimate, multiply the average electrical input in kW by the hours running and the price per kWh. A reverse-cycle unit averaging 0.8 kW of input over eight hours uses 6.4 kWh. At an illustrative 35 cents per kWh, that is $2.24. If it averages 1.5 kW instead, the same eight hours cost $4.20. These are calculation examples, not measured costs for a particular model or room.

Compare a winter bill with an earlier winter, not with a mild autumn. Whole-home data includes every other appliance running at the same time, so record anything unusual, such as visitors or extra laundry.

If the home loses comfort quickly after the heater stops, ask about insulation, draughts and windows as well as the equipment. Request an explanation of the proposed improvements and which problem each one addresses.

Our ceiling insulation guide covers the quote discussion and ACT-specific support. For any heating replacement, have a qualified installer assess the rooms, the building and the installation before choosing capacity.

A cold room does not automatically need a bigger heater. In one published ACT Government case study, a home energy assessment recommended improving the building first. The family draught-proofed, added insulation and upgraded windows, then replaced gas appliances in stages, and reported that the home’s energy rating rose from zero to four stars. Read the three homes stories.

If you are replacing the heater

• Ask the installer to assess the rooms and the home’s heat loss, including insulation and draught-proofing, before proposing a size.
• Ask which building improvements would change the proposed heating size and comfort.
• Use the Zoned Energy Rating Label to compare suitably sized models. It gives heating and cooling information for hot, average and cold climate zones; check the zone for your location and compare heating as well as cooling.
• Ask the installer to confirm cold-weather performance for your home. A unit chosen for summer may also need to keep the house comfortable on a cold winter morning.

Our electrify first guide covers how to order the jobs if you are moving away from gas.

Free assessments in the ACT

As at 13 October 2026, anyone living in an ACT rental can book a free assessment through the Renters’ Home Energy Program (opens in a new tab). Advice is available online, by phone or in person, with suggestions suited to what tenants can change.

The Home Energy Efficiency Program (opens in a new tab) offers free assessments and help with draught-proofing to eligible renters and homeowners. You must meet the National Rental Affordability Scheme income limits, or hold a Centrelink Pensioner Concession Card, Low Income Health Care Card or Veterans’ Affairs Pensioner Concession Card.

Renting

Agree changes with the owner before attaching fittings or changing curtains. As at 13 October 2026, an ACT rental with no ceiling insulation, or insulation below R2, generally needs an upgrade to R5, and exemptions apply. You can ask the landlord or agent for documentary evidence that the home meets the standard. Our renters’ guide covers turning a draught into a specific request for the owner.

Upgrades

For eligible ACT concession homeowners, Home Energy Support rebates cover heating and cooling and ceiling insulation within one shared category cap. In NSW, eligible air-conditioning upgrades can attract an upfront discount, and the amount varies. Our ACT rebates and NSW rebates articles set out the amounts and application steps. Check approval before accepting a quote.