spatch

Just been on the Canadian wed site and they are saying that there is no central heating in NZ? Does this apply to most houses? Do we need to bring those extra blankets or do those Canadians not know what life is really like in NZ?

kwprwn

most houses have no central heating....we have a wood burner in the lounge and that is the only heater, we bought an oil heater for the bedroom as it can be kind of chilly in the mornings

as a rule central heating is not generally needed here as the winters in auckland are quite mild (except for june which was coldest in 30 years)

spatch

How cold was that winter?

kwprwn

Not sure how cold that was but it was down to about -2 degrees which is fairly chilly for auckland

they arent used to it here

I have been here for just 4 months and arrive for coldest winter, so having come from a grotty uk winter to winter here, looking forward to a nice warm summer, although will probably moan am to hot when it arrives..I can now be officially a whinging POM

P18PPS

it's bloody freezing without central heating!! the condensation is a problem too. Auckland has been cold during winter, but just spare a thought for those in the south island who have had sub-zero temps for weeks, and due to the snow have had power cut off for 2 weeks at a time in some places (all this without central heating)... gosh it makes me feel like a winger when the lowest we got to was about 3c at night and 10c during the day!

roll on summer...........

binman

If you are living in Auckland and have a north facing insulated home you shouldn't need central heating. It can be chilly at night sometimes, however often day time temperatures can require nothing more than a long sleeved shirt, yesterday was a case in point. We have no heating in our bedroom and in the children's it is only occasionally necessary. All our windows throughout the house are open from 8am until dark throughout the winter. Condensation is a problem and I have personally found dehumidifiers almost next to useless and expensive to run. I have heard that forced ventilation systems are far more efficient, cheap to run and not that expensive to install. Cheers binman

Jude J

My new house, new to me that is not newly built, has one mains gas heater in the hallway, which seems to me a strange place for it. We have a plug in electric heater in the lounge but nothing in the bedrooms, not even the babys room now although during the really cold spell we had one in there on low all night.

Is there no-one else on here as old as me!! I'm 39 and was brought up in England in a house that had no central heating, me and my sisters used to pick thin sheets of ice off the inside of the bedroom windows
The first house I had with central heating was about 6 years ago in Portsmouth. Before that I had two fairly new houses, one a year old and one 8 years old, both in the midlands, both with only a gas fire in the lounge!

So I just dont find it so odd that it isn't that common here...

kwprwn

I am 36 . my parents had central heating, but my dad was kind of tight with money and barely used it, also I lived in a rented house for 4 yrs with no central heating so go used to that, but then bought a house with central heating, so that turned me into a bit of a wimp now

Jude J

Same here! Some nights, hubby will say to me, 'do you think Lola is warm enough?' and I think, when my older two were her age we lived in a much colder country in a house with no heating and they were not only fine, they were far more healthy than their friends who came from toasty warm houses. Cold kills germs. Doesn't it?!

I bet you are looking forward to your first summer!

kwprwn

I am as I will have had what feels like a life time of winter after coming from UK in march and almost straight to winter

I dont mind it cold as long as i am all wrapped up

Jude J

mmm snuggled up under a blanket watching a movie with a little drinkie.

Or sitting in the garden at 10pm after a day on the beach, feeling very slightly tanned, with citronella candles burning to keep away the mozzies, with a cold beer.
Its all good!

kwprwn

yes snuggled up under a blanket with a nice cold beer!!! or sat outside on the deck with a nice cup of coffee!! now thats not logical

taffinkent

Hi

We are in Invercargill which is the furthest south you can get. The winter here was very mild compared to the UK winters. Canterbury was much worse.
We bought a 80 year old 4 bedroom house 4 months ago which only had an old night storage heater so the house was freezing.
We have installed 2 heatpumps and a HRV system ( the air filtration system ) and are lovely and warm and do not have wet windows in the morning anymore. We are in the process of insulating all the outside walls with Pink Batts and the house will be perfect. OK it will cost all together about $10,000 but it is all within our budget. The heatpumps are at 12 degrees all the time and we leave all the doors open and the whole house is heated. Our electric bill ( 2 adults ) is around $200 per month. So it can be warm here if you shop around for the right options for your home and area.

Taff and Debs.

Boopy

The best thing that we shipped over, was our waterbed. Oooooooooooh! lovely and warm all the time. The thermostat means heat control, up in the winter and down for summer. I don't need the hot water bottles now, don't even need the socks for bed.

westies

We bought a house and found it to be colder inside than outside! We opted for a combined heating/air-con/de-humidifier, so good for summer and winter, the house is now toasty within 5 mins of being on, has timer to pre set, and as a bonus no more condensation, by far the best thing bought so far!! And not overly expensive to run either.