Energy efficient strategies relating to Host Centric Networking based Mobile Ad-hoc NETworks (HCN based MANET) have been ongoing for decades. Yet, despite the production of review articles that discuss techniques and solutions for improving energy efficiency in MANET, the said existing articles are rather meritoriously inadequate as they do not provide detailed aspects of energy conservation practices in MANET, or discuss the limitations of using HCN based MANET. Hence, this article aims to elaborate on these overlooked areas of HCN based MANET research. To begin, this review will first justify the importance of improving energy efficiency in MANET, before going on to overview related research and present a comprehensive analysis on energy efficiency in MANET. This will be followed by discussions on MANET energy consumption behaviour to familiarise researchers with methods used to increase MANET energy efficiency undertaken in previous research, as well as the motives behind them. Next follows a review on the limitations of using Host Centric Networking (HCN) in MANET to expound why such protocols like TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is inefficient for use in MANET implementation. This review culminates with conclusions and suggestions for future research by extolling the virtues of utilising Named Data Networking (NDN). The ultimate objective of this review is to impart a robust understanding on MANET energy efficiency aspects and empower researchers to produce energy efficient solutions for MANET.