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Thread: Thinking about heating options in a rental.

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
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    Default Thinking about heating options in a rental.

    It's a bit chilly this evening and it's got me thinking about our options for keeping warm this winter. We're in a 1940s home with only a small heat pump in the lounge which struggled to warm the lounge on nippy nights in early September, so I don't think it'll much cop in the winter proper. It was installed with the Gov grant but it makes me cross when I think about it because to get the grant the house had to be insulated. When we were told this we though underfloor insualtion akin to expol because that's what we used when we built but actually the underfloor (and no doubt ceiling too) insulation is more like tin foil and has all fallen down. So the landlord got his gov grant for installing a heat pump and yet there's no way it's of adequate size- all looks to me like various workmen and council inspectors taking taxpayers money and annoys me no end.

    Anyway, apart from the tokenistic nod to heating noted above there is one rubbish electric heater in the hall so I think unless we start planning and saving now we're going to be chilly. My partner has fixing the underfloor tin foil on his to-do list before winter.

    What do you think of portable gas heaters? Electric blankets? Can anyone recommend a quiet dehumidifier as ours isn't so only OK for lounge?

  2. #2
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    Dec 2006
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    Coromandel peninsula - ex UK
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    We use oil column radiators in the bedroom and my office, and we also have an electric blanket on the bed. I don't like portable gas heaters because they produce water vapour, plus there is the risk of potentially dangerous fumes. Oil column heaters are much safer, and very effective. The ones we have have are Creda/ Celsius ones and they have different heat settings, thermostats and timers on them, and we set them to come on for an hour before we go to bed, and and hour before we get up in the morning, and they warm the room up nicely. I think they were about $100 - $130 each from Noel Leeming. The electric blanket is brilliant - I wish I'd got one years ago. (I could really have done with one in some of the freezing cold homes I lived in in the UK!) We have one with dual controls, which I highly recommend - I had my side set on the highest setting on the coldest nights, and my husband hardly ever had his on at all! When I was choosing the electric blanket I looked for one that was machine washable, and had a high natural fibre content. I can't remember what brand it is, or how much it cost, but it wasn't hugely expensive as I got it in a sale, and it was well worth paying a little extra for the separate controls.

    We have a Delonghi dehumidifier; I think it's the CF08E. It has a quiet mode, and we've used it at night with no problems, though now in winter I tend to just put it on for a couple of hours before the heater comes on in the evening. I bought that model as it came out best in the consumer.org.nz tests at the time, but I'm sure there are cheaper/ smaller models that are just as good.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
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    Auckland from Sheffield
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    I'd guess a heat pump alone in a rental must be a rarity, and insulation again is usually none existant. Fine for 8 months of the year (in Auckland) but the remainder can be pretty miserable.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
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    Chch, NZ
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    2,226

    Default

    Heat pump is still going to be your best option by a long shot. But it all depends on how long you plan to own the house? Hard to compare a $4000 install on a heat pump vs. $200 electric oil fin heater. Thing is for every 1kW of power the heatpump consumes, it can output 3kW of heat into the house (in the winter time, more like 2kW or less).

    The problem with old houses is there comes to a point that adding insulation becomes too costly compared to the benefit (long payback period). As electricity prices keep going up, the option of knocking down and building a new house seems more logical.

    Cheapest option is to burn firewood (if you're still allowed)

    BQ

  5. #5
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    Jul 2007
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    Scotland to Rangiora
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    We have a fairly new and well insulated house but the hairdryer (sorry heatpump ) does not even remotely heat the house in the depths of winter... We've got oil filled column heaters on timers in each of the bedrooms and that seems to make it bearable - 2hrs before bedtime and then on for another 1hr early in the morning. Not perfect but makes getting out of bed and into the shower a wee bit more bearable

    Karenx

    P.S. Also in winter, on advice from colleagues, we leave the hairdryer on low permanently and didn't seem to affect the leccy bills
    Last edited by peebles16; 12th January 2010 at 09:46 PM. Reason: more info

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
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    Chch, NZ
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    But it all depends on how long you plan to own the house?
    I meant to refer to your landlord. Typically the problem is landlords treat rental properties at the least minimum to get maximum return on their investment. Be lucky you got 1 heat pump.

    We have a fairly new and well insulated house but the hairdryer (sorry heatpump ) does not even remotely heat the house in the depths of winter... We've got oil filled column heaters on timers in each of the bedrooms and that seems to make it bearable
    Without going into too much detail, the problem lies in the way houses are constructed to meet the NZ building code. I've made this discussion in many other posts in the past (so you should be able to find it). Air tightness (not to be confused with draftproofing) is the key.

  7. #7
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    Sep 2006
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    We've used halogen heaters on timers the last 3 winters.....they are pretty good on the electricity and can heat a room up fast on full-whack.....we used these in our unheated garage conversion in the UK too, and they worked very well. We don't have electric blankets as the would add to our power bill, but bought all of the kids some heavy quilt covers to go over the top of their duvets for winter (on sale in Farmers this time of year up until about easter).

    Other little things we've done before include leaving the oven door wide open after cooking to let the heat into the room, and basically having a permanently attached hot water bottle during the day.....fill it up at same time kettle is boiled from making a cuppa.

    I must admit, these things only made winter bearable really......we were previously in an almost new house (supposedly insulated to new regs), and when the temp in our old area of Auckland dipped to -3 for a couple of nights, the temperature was 11 degrees in the morning even with the heating on......we didn't bother with heating during the day as it was cheaper to go out and have a coffee and warm up elsewhere.


    Our (much nicer) new rental has a woodburner so we'll probably just keep that going all night this winter seeing as we're up during the night a lot anyway.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Blenheim, NZ
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    63

    Default heating

    I think heat pumps are being oversold in NZ. Go for the oil filled column heater, cheap at the Warehouse. Absolutely 100% efficient and if you get the ones with a timer and thermostat they can be very convenient. Also run a dehumidifier as damp air takes more heat to warm it. Log burners only heat the room that they are in and its a curse getting and storing fuel.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
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    Christchurch, New Zealand
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    531

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    I've researched quite a bit on heat pumps some time ago and came to the conclusion that in Christchurch, over winter, most heat pumps aren't very efficient. In extremely cold weather, it might actually be cheaper to use a plug-in electric heater than the heat pump, if the heat pump has to constantly turn the compressor on and off due to freezing over, or if the heat pump has to employ a secondary electric resistance heating system to thaw out the coils that has frozen over, or in most cases both!

    This has got to do with the differences between ground-sourced and air-sourced systems, and it seems that in NZ most heat pumps are air-sourced.

    I'm on the hunt for a new rental and although a heat pump is nice to have, I think for myself, good insulation is worth much more than an air-sourced heat pump. Unfortunately most people do "double glazing" (DIY plastic style) and heat pumps but not insulation.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
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    Christchurch
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    I was very confused about the heat pump when we moved here. Thanks for that explanation, KelvinAng.

    I was under the impression in the US that a "heat pump" was pumping heat (hence the name) from the earth through deep piping that moved water (oil?) up and down. I think the piping goes something like 50 meters into the ground--where the temperature is constant all the time. These systems are VERY expensive ($30,000 and up)

    So I was confused to find the NZ heat pump is basically like the little heaters/ac units they have in cheap motel rooms. They will heat/cool a tiny motel room but not your whole house. Air sourcing seems silly and inefficient.

    We froze our butts off in our first rental. It was awful. I ran the heat pump 24 hours a day and used 2 oil heaters 24 hours a day. We were NEVER warm.

    But now we are warm and cozy with a new home with modern insulation and double glazing. The house is passive solar and I never turned ANY heat on during sunny days over the winter.

    I rarely used anything on cloudy days either as I have learned to be cold (and cheap!!) the kiwi way.

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