luvwelly

I laughed when I read that in my instruction book last week too - so don't give the freestanding downstairs heaters away yet then lol. However I like the heatpumps downstairs so far - am running them all day but turning off overnight. No doubt will regret this when I get the bill.
They have thus far transformed the damper downstairs section of my house but yes heat does dissipate quickly...same with upstairs warm air system. I am hoping the heatpump might actually be more efficient but as it is an extra to existing system, I doubt bills will ever be any lower and probably much higher.

Bellasmum

I have far better things to do with my time than be the butt of your kiwi games King lardyl.

I do hope that my input has given some a Kiwi balance with constructive information during my time in here.

Time for me to leave you all to it.

BEVS

OK Bellasmum.
Goodbye and all the best to you and all your family.
Let me, Am Loo or Sue know if you wish the a/c deleted/suspended or similar and..... never fear.... I'm sure Kiwi Princess, Lapsed Kiwi, JaneK among other born and bred Kiwis here will continue to enrich this board with their posts.

bourbon-biscuit

Oh, I thought Bellasmum was implying she was leaving *this* thread, rather than the forum altogether.

lapsed kiwi

You have to get one suited to your climate; I understand Daikin are best for cold weather. I think standard spec is the performance at -3C, so make sure you look at this
To put it in perspective, we have had three Fujitsu heat pumps for three years, and they have once stopped operating properly due to cold outside - so in all, not a major worry

lardyl

was that during the recent cold snap - which seemed rather unusual up on the Coast? Twas bloomin parky up on this hill on those mornings. LOL

lapsed kiwi

No, actually during 2006 which was quite cold. They seemed OK this year

lardyl

before my time then.
wet and horrible kids holidays this fortnight but got down the beach today which stopped the kids going stir crazy!
still not taken the oil-filled rad back upstairs but the dehumidifier is going like crazy

george toni

bloody hell what the heck would you lot make of Dunedin if you are cold up North

Heat pumps are really the only choice you have of heating your place electricaly for as cheap a cost as possible.

They are by no means the be all and end all but I can assure you that compared to an oil fin or 'other' electric heater they will win hands down.

Its all about the right size heat pump for the area to be heated.Gert that wrong and you might as well forget it.

Rental properties are normaly filled with the cheapest brands possible by tight landlords so no suprise when they dont work well!

Daikin are good but overpriced.

Mitsubishi now do a hypercore model and have added the floor mount model to that range.That unit will give you a constant out put no matter how cold it gets outside.It will still defrost now and again but wont loose output once it comes back on.Well worth a look and having fitted loads of them last year I can say they arnt noisey atall.

Go for a floor mounted model in a living area as these are really quiet and the heat comes out at ankle and knee level.High walls are for Halls imo as they can create a draught around your knees in a lounge and by the nature of the fact that the heat needs to be 'pushed' down to the floor tend to be more noisy.

Pellet fires are another option for a set and forget heat source. They dont 'go off' when its freezing outside and you can have a battery back up for the odd power cut.

DONT think you can transfer heat pump heat it wont work well atall and will mean the heat pump never goes off.

A heat pump will ONLY heat the room its in well and other residual heat is hit and miss so when you get on be realistic and dont be fooled by the salesman telling you it will heat the whole house it wont.

Sure it might take the edge of several rooms but thats not a given.

Gas is a rip off as rental of the bottles is expensive as is the cost at $100 a bottle you would go through that in no time.

as said insulate well.

good luck and remember to budjet big time for the heating and insulation of your new house! about $20-30k should do a three bed house!

SarahB

We had full Central Heating and boiler installed in our house here.... its great to have a nice warm house in the winter, as it does get cold here if the sun doesnt come out to play. We did masses of homework beforehand about different heating systems and decided that CH was the way to go for this old house. We always had money put aside for this but it cost a bit more than we thought it would.... was pretty hard to find a company prepared to order all the bits and then install it.... a few problems with it going in too, but hey it works great, the house is warm throughout and we love it!

wilki

heating a NZ house,
Modern = expensive
Old = fortune