Discussions: Guidelines

These guidelines set the basic ground rules for taking part in our online forum.

Our forum is designed for members of the public to share and exchange ideas on matters of domestic energy efficiency.

Our team will review discussions, and moderate where necessary to maintain focus, assist with references to our information, and to ensure that our guidelines are respected. We may choose to edit submissions in the interest of brevity.

We reserve the right to remove or edit any post that we believe breaches our guidelines, and to remove member access rights to our discussions where necessary.

Posts will be moderated daily Monday-Thursday.

Forum rules

Be polite and respect differing points of view. We do not tolerate or use of insulting or offensive language in posts, replies or user names.

Personal attacks on members, moderators or staff will not be tolerated.

Stay on the topic
Please ensure that your posts are relevant to the topic under discussion.

No commercial promotion
You are welcome to post your views on specific products and services. However, please do not use the forum to promote or advertise products and services for your own gain, or on behalf of your employer. If you have a commercial or financial interest in a product or service under discussion, you should disclose this as part of any post you make.

Use your own good judgement
We can’t vouch for the accuracy, quality or good sense of messages posted in our discussions. You must use your own judgement to assess the usefulness of what you read here.

No copyright materials
Post only material that is yours, or where you have the express permission of the copyright owner.

Safety
Posts that promote unsafe practices or information are not permitted.

No spamming or malicious links
The same or similar message posted more than once may be considered spam and removed. Don’t post links to objectionable or irrelevant sites, or malicious code.

Reporting abuse
If you see a message you believe breaches these guidelines, please notify us via our 0800 number or web enquiry form.

Privacy & legal matters

Privacy
We do not publicly display any personal information, apart from your discussions username. We strongly advise that you do not post your email address, home address, or phone number as part of discussions.

Use of your posts
The messages you post in discussions may be used by the Home Energy Advice Centre as part of our research and publication, and we reserve the right to copy or quote them here or in other media.

New Zealand laws apply.
New Zealand laws apply to these discussions. Do not suggest or encourage illegal activity.

These Guidelines may be changed or updated without notice.