KEY POINTS:
The household fridge is in the firing line as the Government pushes for cleaner, greener and more efficient energy use.
Financial incentives are being considered in a bid to put up to 450,000 old refrigerators into retirement.
Other measures being planned to improve energy efficiency include a ban
on new fossil-fuelled electricity generation and new standards for motor vehicles.
The changes will affect the way people use private cars and public transport and are also intended to increase the efficiency of home appliances.
Refrigerators are being targeted because a 10-year-old fridge will use at least double the amount of electricity needed to run an equivalent new one.
New Zealand households on average have 1.8 fridges, with an average age of 16 years.
The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) says the average new fridge costs about $100 a year to run, but that cost rises the older the appliance gets as ageing seals and internal parts lose efficiency.
Green Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons - who is also Government spokeswoman on energy efficiency and conservation - yesterday drew attention to the great Kiwi beer fridge, and asked whether it should be upgraded.
"Most homes in New Zealand have two fridges," she said.
"The second one tends to be in the garage, for the beer. It tends to be very old, very inefficient and is used only on weekends."
The Government says getting rid of 450,000 old fridges over the next 20 years could save $43 million in annual electricity costs by 2025.
An EECA spokesman said details of the scheme had not been finalised, but consideration was being given to "direct financial incentives", which could include paying money for old fridges.
The Government is also strengthening its push for more use of insulation in homes, and is considering compulsory energy performance standards for rental properties.
Energy Minister David Parker said improving the insulation of rental homes was "a bit of a problem" because landlords did not have a great interest in the power bill's size.
They had been slow to take up a Government subsidy scheme that offered to pay 50 per cent of the cost of insulating an existing property.
That had prompted consideration of the compulsory standard.
"I think some landlords just don't want to spend any money they don't have to," Ms Fitzsimons said.
She said the Government recognised it would take time for the shift to occur. The standard would probably require full insulation in the ceiling and under the floor, and some draught-stopping around the windows.
The concept received a generally warm reception yesterday, although there was some concern about its compulsory nature.
Property Investors' Federation vice-president Andrew King said his organisation always recommended that landlords insulate their properties, but he did not want to see it forced on them.
"It does increase the cost, and not all tenants want it," Mr King said.
"It's increasing the cost of providing rental property to the tenant, and it's probably going to have to be passed on."
Mr King said landlords would get benefits from insulating, but he questioned how a mandatory standard would be enforced and whether it might add to costs.
Stuart Shutt, director of Investor Homes, which builds investment properties, said he felt the standard should be compulsory.
"I wouldn't live in an un-insulated home, and I wouldn't expect any of my tenants to," he said.
The Government's new strategy also targets older and less efficient vehicles, aiming to improve the average fuel economy of cars - used and new - by 25 per cent, saving 441 million litres of fuel.
Independent Motor Vehicle Dealers Association chief executive David Vinsen said "gas-guzzling" cars could still be imported, but would have to be offset by smaller, more efficient cars.
New vehicle emission standards are to be finalised next month, and Mr Vinsen said they could make motoring more expensive.
Older cars would not be able to meet the standards, "so the move is towards newer technology which is also more expensive. So those measures will make motoring more expensive.
" additional reporting: Claire Trevett