nelsonpom

Hi thinking very seriously about having a heat pump fitted with winter and a baby fast approaching. Does anyone have any experience of them good or bad. Thinking of a Fujitsu or maybe DeLonghi or have just brought out a new range. Thanx in advance Darren

alanmacc

Hi we have just had a second pump installed at our house, we had a 6.25kw Fujitsu already and were not too impressed with it, we have just had a Daikin installed and it is or at least seems a better output than the Fujitsu and is only a 4kw.

We got this through HPAC, who $ for $ were actually better value than the major chains

Alan

nelsonpom

Guy we spoke to recommended a smaller one as the bigger ones heat too quickly so will cut off before the larger area is heated. Smaller pumps are slowler so the heat has more time to disperse. Who are HPAC ?
Darren

Black Sheep

nelsonpom,

A heatpump can be a waste of money if you don't have a properly insulated home. If you have lots of single-glazed windows, that will also impact on the effectiveness of a heatpump. Heatpumps are designed to work best in properly 'weather-proofed' homes. Here in Christchurch, Environment Canterbury gives subsidies or interest-free loans for replacing open fireplaces and old logburners with 'clean' heating systems including heatpumps, but to qualify these days for the subsidy the house has to be properly insulated in both attic and underfloor (ECan subsidises cost to have the insulation done as well). IF you're going to have a heat pump installed, get full insulation and all other weather proofing possible done (weather stripping around doors & windows, etc).

As for sizing the heatpump - beware of any heat pump 'expert' that tells you what size you need without having first had a look at your home. There are so many heat pump cowboys out there, believe me! You need to go to the most reputable heat pump firm you can find, one that will give you a written guarantee that the HP will heat the required area of your home to a certain minimum temperature inside when the temperature outdoors is a certain temperature. Make absolutely sure that the area that the heat pump is supposed to heat ('living room + dining room' for instance) is spelled out on the guarantee (I learned that the hard way).

lapsed kiwi

We had three Fujitsu units installed - the smallest size they make (2.4kw effective heating on 850w power I think). They do a really good job and are just ticking over once they have brought the room up to temp. I have heard that Daikin are the best in colder outside temperatures though, so may be better if you're in the south where night temps are low - not so much of a problem here.
Personally I'm not a big fan of turning a house into a hermetically sealed box - that is asking for damp. We have single-glazed windows and get a bit of condensation on the colder mornings, so tend to open everything up and blow some warm air through for half an hour when this happens.

P2L

we are in Christchurch and have a Daikin FTX and have no compalints so far

It brings room up to temperature quite quickly ( so I can rush in and turn it off when HE isn't looking )

Mgee

As a person who lives in a climate where wintertime temperatures can drop below -25 C, I feel obliged to intervene this conversation:

Basically any form of heating is a waste of energy and money if the building is not insulated. The warmth quickly radiates through the walls etc. and you are "heating for the magpies" as we say in Finland. It is inefficient and expensive. The insulation acts in both directions: it keeps the cold out but it also keeps the warmth in. Having good insulation is not about creating an air-tight box, au cotraire good insulation is always breathable and any insulated building should be properly ventilated. It's like your clothes: they keep you warm and at the same time they let out the moisture your body creates. Any moisture condensating inside a building is a sign that there is no adequate ventilation in the house, and that your house is prone to mould and mildew -and that you are prone to respiratory diseases like asthma.

Also a stable "base temperature" is better than having any form of heating on full power for only a couple of hours a day. As soon as you stop heating the moisture and cold start creeping back in. A stable base temperature keeps the moisture at bay and keeps the structure of the house warm. Once you get the moisture out and the structure warm, it then takes a lot less energy to keep the temperature up than if you stop and start again. The traditional fireplaces here in the far North are not open fireplaces but more like stone/brick-clad woodburners: the idea is that the stone or brick cladding acts as thermal mass and stores the heat long after the fire has burned out. (see this link for a modern solution http://www.uunisepat.fi/WebRoot/5213...aspx?id=541898) That way the base temperature stays pleasant all day and it only requires a couple of logs (literally) to heat it up again the following day. Almost all central heating systems used over here imitate this: they have some form of heat storing mechanism and the basic idea is that it's easier and more economical to keep the temperature up than to bring it up again and again.

Of course the climate in NZ is a lot milder but the principles of effective heating are still largely the same nevertheless.

/end of rant
Mgee

lapsed kiwi

Sorry - I wasn't arguing against insulation and as an engineer I understand the things you explained, but what I was saying is that eliminating any ventilation by blocking up every last crack around windows is not necessarily a good thing.
Most houses in NZ have very little thermal mass due to their wooden construction, and the temperatures are very mild in most parts of the country. I doubt our house would ever drop below 12C even with no heating. So, heating only when needed becomes realistic

nelsonpom

Thanx for your input everyone we have insulated ceiling and underfloor and hope to get the walls done, but that is a much longer and harder job. Am not going to turn my home into a building site with a 6 month pregnant wife in the house

Mgee

Of course the heating needs depend on the climate, and my examples were from my own climate And I definitely do not encourage the original poster to start ripping down walls with a baby on the way either unless you want to end up sleeping in the garage! Pregnant women are not to be upset! What I was merely trying to point out is that whenever heating options are being discussed, insulation cannot be left out of the equation, just like someone stated in one of the earlier posts, and that the way you use the heaters can have a huge effect on the fuel consumption and the gain you get from the heater. I am sure that for a large part of NZ heat pumps are a good alternative considering the local climate, especially if you also need them for cooling as well. As a matter of fact, if we end up in Welly, we will most likely have some kind of a wetback/heat storing system combined with a heat pump or two and a fireplace just for athmosphere -and for marshmallows!

nelsonpom

No worries mate and if you do end up in Welly which is a lovely city (lived there for a year) you will most definately be looking at heating options and ways to stop that wind

Dustybin

I've got a big 8kw floor unit (why would i want a heater at the top of my wall to heat my ceiling above my head?) and it heats the whole house.. so there ner ner ne ner ner..

MattH

We've got 5 Daikin's at home (run off one outside multi-split unit), and a Fujitsu one at the Bach - impressed with both of them, although the Daikin has more adjustability (timers, air-flow etc) and would get my vote!

Naylors

Hi there - we are pretty new to heat pumps, but have been advised that you should mount them near the ground so that the warm air moves up and circulates. We have also been told that they are one of the more efficient ways to heat your home in winter. Hope this helps.

kiwinow

I think it depends where you live. In Nelson you should be OK with a heat pump, I think.

We have a new woodburner in Timaru, but stayed in a holiday rental in Hanmer Springs in winter (snow on the ground) that had a heat pump and I tell you it was not enough. It was mounted near the ceiling and although the thermostat clicked off quite quickly and it was warm if you stood up, we were freezing sitting on the couch watching DVDs wrapped in blankets. We left it on and about halfway through Day 2 it was a nice temp, but too hot at night.

Personally, we didn't like the drying type of heat, but that may be because we are used to a woodburner.