How energy-efficient homes can make us healthier and safer

Housing is an important determinant of health. With governments changing regulations to increase energy efficiency and move away from gas appliances in homes, the positive impacts on health should be seen as more than a “co-benefit” alongside the headline savings in energy bills and greenhouse gas emissions.

In June this year, the Victorian government announced major changes to energy regulations. Gas hot water systems will be phased out of all Victorian homes – from March 2027, at end of life they must be replaced with efficient electric alternatives. 

The government had planned to include gas heaters, and had initially wanted to phase out gas stovetops, too, but the announcement specified no changes to gas heating or cooking for owner-occupiers of existing homes. 

From January 2027, all new homes will be built all-electric. Also from the start of 2027, rental properties have to meet higher energy efficiency standards. At end of life, gas heaters and hot water systems must be replaced with electric alternatives. 

Additionally, when a new lease starts, rental properties must have draught-proofing, ceiling insulation of at least R5.0 (about 20cm thick) when insulation is not already present, and an efficient electric cooling system.

Change is also happening in New South Wales – in the same week as the Victorian announcement, City of Sydney councillors voted to ban indoor gas appliances in all new homes. The updated rules (taking effect from January 2026) mandate electric stoves, ovens, and heaters and coolers in all newly-built houses and apartments. 

Interestingly, gas hot water systems will still be allowed. Six other New South Wales councils have also banned gas appliances in new builds.

Impact on householder health

Energy efficiency changes can yield important health benefits for householders. This is particularly the case for Victoria’s new minimum rental standards on insulation and draught proofing. 

Groundbreaking New Zealand research has shown the health benefits of minor home energy upgrades. A 2007 trial demonstrated that insulating existing houses led to a significantly warmer and drier environment for the occupants, resulting in better self-rated health, less wheezing, fewer days off school and work, and fewer GP visits. 

In 2008, the same research team found that installing efficient heating in homes of children with asthma reduced symptoms of asthma, days off school, healthcare use, and pharmacist visits. 

The subsequent government-funded Warm Up New Zealand: Heat Smart program had an impressive cost-benefit ratio – every $1 spent on insulation and heating upgrades yielded $4 in savings (99% due to health benefits).

Being too cold during winter also poses health risks for Victorian householders. The Victorian Healthy Homes Program showed that minor upgrades to a home’s energy and thermal efficiency increased indoor temperatures over winter and was associated with reduced breathlessness, improved quality of life, and healthcare savings of $887 per person.

Being too hot in summer also carries risk – heat causes more deaths and hospitalisations in Australia than all other climate hazards combined. 

In the Health and Climate Initiative, we’re working to understand the health impacts of future Victorian heatwaves. Victoria’s current minimum rental standards are silent on the need for cooling; the new mandating of an efficient cooling system will result in health benefits for renters.

More health opportunities remain

Still more health gains will be realised once we stop burning gas in our heaters and stovetops. 

Victoria is the most gas-reliant state (54 GJ per household per year, against the Australian average of 32 GJ), with supply that has historically been cheap (thanks to nearby Bass Strait gas fields) and convenient (the 1960s saw extensive gas reticulation, and more than three-quarters of Victorian households are connected). 

As a non-renewable fossil fuel, gas contributes to the global warming that’s creating unprecedented threats to human health. The gas we burn is predominantly methane, a greenhouse gas that traps about 80 times more heat in the atmosphere per molecule than carbon dioxide over a 20-year span.

At the household level, burning gas in our homes creates potential health risks for the occupants. Though gas heaters are much safer now, the risk of open-flued appliances causing carbon monoxide poisoning remains. 

Gas cooking is so normalised that most people don’t give it a second thought, but there are real health impacts – combustion of gas releases asthma-triggering nitrogen dioxide and the known carcinogen benzene into homes. 

More than 12% of childhood asthma in Australia has been attributed to gas stoves. In a study of 148 Victorian children, respiratory symptoms were significantly more common in those exposed to a gas stove. 

Importantly, gas stoves don’t need to be in use to contribute to indoor air pollution, with more than three-quarters of methane emissions released during periods when the stove is off. 

Increasing ventilation reduces, but does not eliminate, the health risks of gas stovetops. Replacing them with efficient induction cooktops, powered by renewable electricity, is the best solution for the climate and for health.

Wood-burning heater pollution

Another health risk is created by wood-burning heaters – they increase indoor air pollution and are associated with higher risk of lung cancer. Residential wood heaters contribute to outdoor air pollution, too, with data from Melbourne indicating they’re a major source of ambient particulate matter (PM2.5). 

Adverse respiratory effects, including COPD and asthma, from woodsmoke exposure are well-established. A recent study found that 728 deaths per year in Australia were attributable to PM2.5 from wood heating. 

Replacing half of Australia’s wood heaters with zero or lower-emission technologies could avoid more than 300 of these deaths, with associated cost savings exceeding $1.6 billion per year. 

This is eminently possible; New Zealand’s introduction of stronger emissions standards has prompted widespread uptake of ultra-low emission burners (ULEBs), wood heaters that improve combustion and dramatically reduce pollution. 

Of course, electric reverse-cycle air conditioners are also an efficient and healthy alternative for heating, with the benefit of avoiding potential ecological impacts of firewood collection.

Dr Toby Cumming is speaking in a session on healthy and resilient housing at the Climate and Health Alliance (CAHA) Summit, being held on the Gold Coast from 26-28 October.