Lizaberry

Hi, have posted on here recently about settling in the north or south as my OH's work opportunities could lend themself either way. What I was trying to gauge was what the weather and houses are like in both areas. What I understand so far is that the south is more like the UK but colder in the winter, whilst the north has a more tropical like climate. Does anyone have anything they can add to what I know? Also, are the houses built any differently north and south to reflect the differing climates? I have heard people talk about the damp in the north, regarding condensation on the windows in the mornings. I know that they are predominantly wooden structures. What heating is generally installed or is there none?

Any information would be welcomed. It might help me paint a picture of which area we may be better suited to. I wouldn't mind the cold so long as there is adaquate heating but somehow I don't think thats the answer I'm gonna get!!

Thanks for now, LB

lapsed kiwi

There are loads of threads on this. BBC weather is a good place to start for climate info. Unless you go to Dunedin or further south, anywhere in NZ has milder winters than even southern England (Dunedin is probably about the same as south coast of UK. But, kiwis don't seem to mind cold houses and the building standards appropriate to the sub-tropical north were previously used throughout the country - so Brits find houses cold.
Anything is fixable and it desn't cost that much. In today's market you should easily bargain off $15k on the price of a house, and this is enough to add heating etc.

Lizaberry

You sound annoyed with me 'lapsed kiwi' - sorry

I didn't want any generalisation hence why I didn't go to the BBC for details, but more people's own experience of the weather and housing. Was just curious as to whether the houses were built any differently too - just trying to understand the 'damp' and condensation problems that I have seen people mention .. BTW - I didn't find too many posts like mine about housing, on first glance.

Thanks, LB

Browner_

Well, Wellington certainly aint tropical by any consideration! You have to go north of Auckland before you might get a warmer climate. Having said that, the "Fruit and Wine" areas of the North Island (Bay of Plenty and Hawkes Bay) have better climates.

In my experience, the houses are pretty much the same all over the country, which means you could be seriously cold down south in the winter.

It may not be as cold as the UK, but for most kiwis it feels colder cos of the lack of insulation and heating.

In UK, it was sleep naked all the time.
Here (North Island) its put extra clothes on for bedtime (woolly hat and socks!)

Lizaberry

Thanks Browner, but too much information

TeamEmbo

Tropical being higher rainful, more humid with milder winters. Where we are, in North Canterbury, South Island, we have long dry summers - very little rainful. Winter is generally drier than elsewhere but we still get torrential downpours and winter here is cooler than top of the north island but its weird as the day can start off cold, quickly get warm anything from around 15-25° and then drop cold again as soon as the sun goes down, so you can still hang your washing out on the line - so long as your quick! We do get ground frost here and last year we had snow for a day or two. But generally the weather can turn in the blink of an eye anywhere in NZ - sun one minute, hail storm the next, then back to sun - hence the all four seasons in one day saying.

We have a block built house, insulated and drylined. We have a log burner and two heat pumps, one downstairs, one upstairs. Our windows stream with condensation in the winter. Simple solution is to open all the windows during the day as the air outside is generally warmer and drier. You get used to going outside of your home to warm up, LOL!

You can get DVS systems installed (least you can if you don't have a flat roof) that take the warm air from your attic to run through the home which drives the cold and damp out and thus makes the air drier and easier to heat your home.

Houses in NZ are not built with central heating, but it is available here if you want it installed. Houses seem to be built to get the sun as much as possible which will heat your home for free. We don't have that many days a year that we don't get the sun at all. No long dark days for SAD to kick in.

Someone said to me its a bit like going to stay at grandma's house - no central heating, flannelette sheets and extra blankets on the bed, hot water bottles, cold bathroom, lots of layers of clothing - you get the picture.

whitesand

NZ is probably the only place in the world where in winter you put on your jacket, hat and gloves to spend an evening indoors!

Lizaberry

A really helpful post and the sort of thing I was hoping for. I am looking more closely at the South Island - Nelson inparticular. Are many of the houses in NZ flat roofed then? What is the central heating fired by? Do many use solar panels to power their homes? Are the houses cheap to run? What cooking options do you have, e.g.UK we have gas/elec ? All these questions, makes it sound like a Spanish inquisition! Sorry. Better start stocking up on woolly socks then - I'll put it on my Christmas list!

'Whitesand' - I don't care too much for that idea. Guess I've much to learn about the weather and houses in NZ then.

Thanks again!

TeamEmbo

Nelson is generally warmer than where I am I think. Bevshere will be able to tell you more as she lives there. There are all different styles of houses - an architects dream! If you had central heating put in I guess you'd also have a gas boiler put in and you'd have to have LPG gas bottles (no piped gas I think in NZ) so most cooking and heating is electric or log burners, like I said, unless you have bottled gas. We don't so I don't know how much that is.

When I said houses were built to get heated by the sun, sorry, I didn't mean solar panels - just the position of the houses - main rooms facing north, lots of glass so that they get naturally heated by the sun.

You can get solar panels, European style central heating, underfloor heating, DVS, HRV, heat pumps, heat lamps (for bathrooms), wall heaters, dehumidifiers double glazing, oil filled radiators, wall/floor/ceiling insultation etc. It's just they don't come as standard in most homes. You add what you want or rather what you can afford. Double glazing is also not standard. But having said that most new builds I think would have double glazing and at least a heat pump fitted in the main living area.

shirl

Not in my house LOL !!! Lovely and warm!

Wooly_Cow

OK quick answers...

A lot of newer builds are flat roofed, but the older types tend to be pitched.
Central heating is RARE to find in a house already but you can get them retrofitted which is not a huge job because the walls and floors are all wooden with crawl spaces underneath. These tend to be the forced air type but there are now adverts on the TV for 'European type' water filled radiators....radical :-) . Most in major cities will be mains gas fired, but I guess there will be some bottled gas types. Be careful of under floor heating...these are electric coils and with inadaquate insulation cost a fortune to run. these are mainly in tiled areas like bathrooms.

In many houses they use woodburners with 'wetbacks' to heat the hot water. Some of these also heat the central heating but again these are rare.

Solar pannels are available and used for hot water mainly. DVS systems are more common.

Are hosues cheap to run? Honestly ....no given that the weather is not as cold for as long as the UK. Before you start looking at CH and DG and so on make sure your hosue is insulated. There are goverenment grants to do this and from a coupe of years ago ALL new builds have to meet a newer higher standard (though you wouldn't beleive it but depsite knowing what the new regs were going to be, builders were STILL building to the old regs i.e no DG, or under floor insulation right up to the final day......and people still bought them....dumb!!! (Imagine in a few years trying to sell a house in the same block as one about the same age but their was built to the new standard....)) end of rant!

Gas and Elec are slightly cheaper on a unit basis but as most houses dont have good enough insulation...any heat you put it goes straight out again. Bottom line to stay warm, expect similar winter bills than in the UK - unless you want to be cold! In summer of course in most places the heating bill should be near zero (excluding hot water)

Oh and you can cook on anything here (gas, elec, a mix, hallogen, woodburner stoves.....) just the same as the UK - the main cities have all options. in the countyrside it's woodburners, and bottled gas or elec in many places.

Hope that helps

Persephone

Hi Lizaberry
We live in a 20 year old house and it is cold!. I'm in Palmerston North and would not describe it as tropical here at all.
Central heating is not at all common- Mr Sue [a kiwi] says he only associates it with schools, large municipal buildings and institutions and it isn't something that people bother with here. He can see the advantages to it Though as Wooly cow mentioned it has been advertised so maybe it will become more of a standard issue for new homes eventually. I had a laugh as well at the "European style" CH ads.
We have mains gas for cooking, hot water and a gas fire in the living room. We also have an electric heater in the bedroom.
When we move we're going to seriously look at CH and some decent insulation. I have found that I have become more tolerant of the cold as well, either that or I'm just used to putting yet another layer of clothing on
Sue

Kiwiprincess

We (as in the house I live in) have mains gas for heating. We don't for cooking but could if we wished.

We used to have a fireplace but it was replaced by the gas heater. Not as good for the environment if you compare it to how people should run their new woodburners. Except people still run woodburners to burn wood slowly all night. Which is bad. Not sure which is worse actually - gas on for a few hours or a long running fireplace. I wouldn't mind knowing that answer.

All houses (except brick and some concrete materials I think?) after 1978 are supposed to have insulation. People will say that X house doesn't have it -it either does but was cr*ppy insulation, or the builder was shoddy and breaking the law.

However, that is a heck of a long way from saying the houses built after 1978 are warm. Definitely definitely not. But It is a pretty good indicator of when houses started to get a tad warmer. FWIW, my mother cannot recall wearing thick jerseys inside for as long as we would now. The most obvious reason for that (apart from her daughter being a complete wuss when it comes to the cold!) is that up until the 60s and 70s there was often someone at home (mommy) keeping the blasted fire going. So when talking about cold houses be aware that it's actually a relatively recent occurance. Surprising that actually. NZ houses were colder - without a doubt. But the difference is a lot also had fireplaces running for hours. I'm a history geek, and the history of NZ houses is for me quite fascinating.

Oh, as for what the radiator style central heating runs on - in most cases whatever you power source is. If it's electric, it runs on electric. If it's gas, it runs off gas. For some reason I image it would be more efficient to run it from gas but that's probably just my preference of quick heating!!

Underfloor vents as central heating (as opposed to radiator central heating) can still be found in the South Island. My parents had this (in the North Island) and liked it but had it taken out. Apparently they are relatively fuel efficient (for oil?) but the cost was the refil of the oil tanks. So, in the 70s a lot of these oil tanks were ripped out and never replaced. Sniff.

FYI - don't completely write off an old house. They are often of much better construction. So, they may be colder but they may also be better for when you do retrofit a place. Less likely to get creaky floorboards in a state house privately sold in the 1940s than you would in a house built in 1980

A few ramblings for you...

lapsed kiwi

Sorry - wasn't annoyed or trying to sound that way, just wanted to point you towards some facts before you heard the horror stories.

lapsed kiwi

Or you stop whining, get off your proverbial and sort out some heating in your house. It's neither difficult or expensive - three heat pumps for < $7k in our place and it is now very comfortable.

Each to his own I suppose

We have mains gas for hot water and cooking, and electric heat pumps for room heating. For really cold nights, we have electric radiators for the bedrooms - but probably use these in the kids's rooms a dozen times per year.