lardyl

good tips.
another one is make sure that your extract fans in the kitchen bathroom vent to outside not the roof space - lived in one in the UK where it went straight into the loft insulation - that could spell death by rot to a timber-framed NZ home!!
not sure how timber famed worked but brick and tile homes are designed to breathe to some extent - taking on moisture at some times of the year and losing at others....I'm reading up on "Dwangs" and other terms at the moment as I need to know what is what over 'ere.......

P2L

Hi Hun

Are you swotting up on a personal or professional level?

jennifer45

Ah yes- the 'combi-boiler'!
Just make sure the washing machine/dishwasher/central heating aren't starting up when you run the bath! Takes forever! Son's experience not mine
Nothing against central heating in UK where temps drop below 0*for long periods but just think it's an unnecessary extravagance in most areas of NZ. There are cheaper options to achieve a comfortable, warm living environment which are also healthier. (IMHO)
Jennie

lapsed kiwi

I agree, the desire for CH seems something of an obsession with some immigrants. We had three excellent Fujitsu heat pumps installed last year for about $6700 all in, these heat all the living areas of our large house and usually they're barely ticking over, when they're on and have got the temperature up to 21C (usually takes less than 10 min). So far this "winter" they've probably been running for a combined total of about 30 hours. We have small electric heaters with time switches and thermostats in the bedrooms, which we have yet to turn on this winter, and heated towel rails (which use 60W) in the bathrooms. This lot seems a totally adequate heating solution - why spend hugely more to have pipes and radiators everywhere?

lardyl

professional, I have to be able to describe things that I have never seen before so Kiwis can understand me and my reports!!
Might build something later once we decide whether or not to stay and whether or not to keep our UK property, not got to the "Sky level" yet and still dont know where we will be in NZ in 12 months time!

lardyl

seems like they either have poor water pressure (as most dishwashers are cold fill only and almost all modern washing machines are too) or the wrong boiler (not enough output on DHW) - our Vailant TurboMax (fitted by my own fair hand) was pretty good and over-engineered for the house, with room for extensions and other bathrooms in the original design.
In almost all of NZ you will need some form of background heat (hence the wood burner - which is the subject of criticism in our local paper on HBC this week due to emissions from poorly seasoned fuels and badly serviced flues, BTW) and a true heat pump (heat extraction from outside air - friends have a decent system in rural France) or even a pumped underground heat extraction system combined with radiators would be pretty useful in some parts of NZ and pretty environmentally friendly too.
Up here we would not need it but lots of people have different "comfort levels" when it comes to heat (try turning the aircon down in our office and you'll see what happens!!)
I'd suggest that some form of air filtration/circulation/de-humidification/heating system would be the best but that would be best suited to new builds, some of the houses around here have asbestos cement boards dotted around which I would not want to disturb!

lardyl

yep, lots of immigrants from hottter climes than the UK drool over Gulf Harbour where there is brick&tile, mains gas and central heating. Others are looking for heat pumps but these are expensive for most of us given the wages we earn! Not an option in our rental which has no form of heating at all, just thermostically controlled socket outlets!
At the moment we make do with a couple of electric heaters and a de-humidifier, none of which have seen action this season (touch wood for a mild winter) even though our home has massive windows to stare out over Orewa at the Nautilus and the lovely beach! Oh yeah the Brisoces "bargain" electric blankets are in the laundry cupboard too!!
Roll on our own home.

lapsed kiwi

Just to challenge some misconceptions:
- Central heating does not dry your home - heating a body of air does not remove moisture from it
- Double glazed windows do not dry your home or the air in it
- Single glazed windows do not make the air in your home wet, they just provide a cold surface for condensation to form on. Arguably, once you've removed this condensation by squeegee or cloth, you now have drier air than that in a double-glazed house (this is exactly what a dehumidifier does)
- Leaving a bedroom door open, and/or a window opened a crack overnight, will vastly reduce the condensation formed
- Forced-draft ventilation systems are not expensive and apparently do a good job at reducing condensation. If you want an efficient heat-transfer system to transfer heat (but not moisture) from the exhaust air to the inlet air, this will cost a bit more (about $6k for an average house)
- Most modern (later than 2000) NZ homes have a reasonable level of insulation in roof space and walls
- Kiwis don't seem to be fussed about cold houses, but that doesn't mean you have to live in one. Installing heating is not expensive, especially if you budget for it when you buy the house. How easy is it to barter $10k off the price of a house? There - you've just saved enough to turn it into a warm house.
Obviously if you're renting your options are much more limited - see my previous rant about whether or not to sell your UK house

lapsed kiwi

As an aside, did you know that Auckland:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/c...ml?tt=TT003100
has milder winters than Venice:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/c...ml?tt=TT003950
Athens:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/c...ml?tt=TT003830
Madrid:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/c...ml?tt=TT004240
and Marseilles:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/c...l?tt=TT003600&

Do houses in these cities all have DG & CH (genuine question - I've never lived in any of them and the Parthenon certainly hasn't)??

lardyl

but our winters are far wetter and condensation (as you mentioned) is a problem - hence the "colder inside than out" feeling of many Kiwi houses/buildings

SarahB

Well, we are having central heating put in. We have ordered it and waiting now for it to be installed. My OH spent weeks back in the summer researching all the different types of heating we could have. Our 30 year old villa has many rooms and doors and is not open plan like most of the new builds. He worked out that it will be the most efficient way for us to heat our house. We are also having loft insulation put in. The way our house is laid out other heating options would not have worked very well. I will update you when its all finished and tell you if its any good or not.

mcuddy1

What type oil or gas boiler. I don't think you are on gas there are you? 10k in CHC with gas boiler. They do have a super efficient gas condensing boiler over here. Is this a first for BEP NZ. Waiting with baited breath.
Good luck.

SarahB

LPG gas bottles. We were going to use wood pellets but the boiler wouldve costed twice as much as the gas one....it was nearly $6.1k for the pellet one. My OH just told me its a gas condensing boiler that we are getting..... doesnt mean too much to me.... I've let him arrange it all. Sitting here now with 2 pairs of socks on... 2 jumpers and clutching a mug of hot tea.... and its still autumn

lardyl

lovely and warm up here in the rumpus on the Whangapaoroa Peninsula, where it was 17C at 5pm. MrsL feels the cold though and has a fleece on now, so it all depends upon who you are and how you feel the cold/damp.
Good luck with the CH and it would be good to hear about your experiences

SarahB

Thanks. Of course I will let you know how it all goes. The company have only put CH in a few times before!

I'm the biggest wimp ever when it comes to being cold! Its still not cold here really..... its just where we are sitting now is right on the outside of the house. This week it was so warm it was 26 degrees upstairs in our living room.