Energy Efficient Innovations was born out of Zane’s passion for making machines better.

He was that child. The one pulling toys, radios and things apart to see how they worked, before putting them back together again.

After spending 13 years as a refrigeration engineer, Zane learned just about everything there was to know about heating and cooling systems. From large commercial HVAC systems, to home heat pumps, he knew how to install, uninstall, service and troubleshoot these machines.

Zane also saw how energy hungry his own home was. Installing heat pumps and heating systems in other homes only made him more frustrated. First, how energy hungry New Zealand homes are in general. Secondly, none of the tradespeople or their systems seemed to talk to each other when building a new home, so the energy hungry problem never got solved. 

The solar installer would put panels on the roof. The heat pump person would put in the ducted HVAC system, and a different installer would put in underfloor hot water heating. Each system would have their own app to turn them off or on and monitor electricity usage, but none of them would connect. They were all inefficiently working independently of, and sometimes against each other. 

Using his experiences working on big commercial systems in New Zealand, Zane had seen how some systems could talk to each other. For example, the fridges in some supermarkets could send an error message if the temperature rose too high. Seeking inspiration from overseas, Zane visited European factories, checked out products and observed their quality control.  

On his return, Zane developed the My Energy operating system. A smart app that can connect your solar, space heating, ventilation and hot water heating systems together, so they cooperate to make your home more energy efficient.

Since then, designing systems, and training tradespeople around New Zealand to become My Energy accredited installers keeps him fairly busy.

When he’s not designing smart systems, Zane reads books about energy efficiency for fun. His friends think he’s funny for bringing his work home with him like that, but it goes to show how much Zane loves what he does. Rugby, mountain biking, and parenting five kids also keeps Zane fairly active.

Want to know more about the My Energy app that Zane has developed? Here’s how your home can become a whole lot smarter.