zoglet

forgive my ignorance, but what is a heat pump?

sparkie down under

don't worry - I used to wonder as well, (until I got here). A heat pump is an compressed inverter. Any wiser????

It's an a/c unit that works in reverse as well and can extract latent heat from outside and transfer it inside

folic

Attended a seminar in NZ several years ago, to which we tacked-on an extra two week junket. Bus transported us from airport to hotel in Auckland. Based on what I'd heard, NZ was supposed to be ' Little England' and I was expecting lots of half-timbered and tudor style houses, or made of brick or stone with private roads or perhaps cottage gardens.

Instead, I was shocked to see dingy little wood places with smoking chimneys and all along the road into Auckland. Talk about depressing, especially in the drizzle !

We hired a car and drove to Rotorua whilst there and all the while, I was expecting this magical 'Little England' to reveal itself, now we were away from the city. But no .. just more depressing little shanty towns serving horrible food.

I couldn't believe that people who lived in a climate such as New Zealand's could live comfortably in those sodden, wooden (and small looking) houses. Guess times were very hard for the pioneers .. and it sounds as if it's continuing to the present day in much of NZ. Australia seemed 100 years in advance, compared to NZ. Not tempted to return.

sparkie down under

interesting, but stick to poll please, yes - no - don't know. Anything else start a new thread. Ta very

harrogate girl

NO .. We have a new house double glazed, is no good not up to UK standard !!!we have
Under tile heating
Gas fire
Heat pump on the wall (free standing are much better)
Heat pump in the ceiling with heat transfer to the bedrooms.
AND I STILL GET COLD elec bills in the winter are over $390 PER MONTH.

Pink candyfloss does not keep me warm:curse:and only built with what is called half a brick in NZ.

harrogate girl

Sorry!!!!! just got me going.
Lin

BEVS

Overall have to say YES but things could be improved.

30 year old house

Thick insulation in the ceilings , walls and underfloor.
2 storey house so the wood burner heats the upstairs rooms as well as the living area.
Angled well for the sun.
Wood for the winter = $300 or free
Average electric bill is normally around $120 average throughout the year.
Hot water in winter is via the wetback.
Hot water in summer is the electric immersion heater.

Improvements would be :-

Double glazing. Though I have doors and windows open all year round here during a day so this would be about keeping the heat in during the winter evenings and nights.

A heat transfer system to get more heat into the downstairs bedrooms. They get chilled but are not damp. There is no damp in the house at all.

Heated towel rail and maybe some underfloor heating for the downstairs shower room. Can be parky of a winter in there.

cleverchap

No

Just last night my OH was commenting on being as cold as when we used to go camping on Dartmoor, and we were sat in the living room!

Genesis

Yes, to a degree..if you'll pardon the pun. We have had installed double glazing, a wood burner, european gas CH and we run between 5-6 dehumidifiers during the winter. We also have an open wood fire, 2 heat pumps and integral wall mounted air heaters. We use NONE of the last 3 as we finder the former nicer, cheaper and better ways to heat our shed. Its not toasty warm as the house is as per NZ normal..not brick but some shitty stucco, gib and polysyrene gunk..that'll see the next millenium aye? NOT!!!!!!! Great during the summer but there's nought like REAL brick to keep the chill out.

lapsed kiwi

Thank god you found out before you decided to move here, otherwise you might have turned into one of those whinging poms

Batty

Yours sounds very similar to ours Bevs except we couldn't have a heat transfer system as we've got no attic space. I run a dehumidifier in our bedroom most of the winter and only on the very, very coldest days do I turn on a heater - about 5 times last year. I don't think we'll manage it this year but I'd hope to have double glazing by next winter but in the meantime the thermal curtains will have to do. We have absolutely no draughts - the house is so rock solid that even in the biggest storms you'd only know by looking outside - not a groan or moan anywhere!

So, my answer is yes.

Biddy

Yes.
We built our own: Double Glazing. Lots of sun facing windows. Reasonable insulation in walls and roof. Only heating is wood burner in lounge which we use approx 3 months a year. Does the job pretty well although the far end of the house does get quite nippy in middle of winter. No condensation and no need for socks and hats in bed!!

southerner

Yes (on the whole) - we bought an old villa and made some changes. Wool insulation in the ceiling, 4 heat pumps and a few other things. We''ll probably do a bit more before the coming winter, like some more underfloor insulation for those rooms with wooden floors.

sparkie down under

Thanks everyone.

The results are yes gets 8 and no gets 12.

Seems to have got a lot of you going, and it also seems that those who answered yes have spent a considerable amount on making their homes much better.

I think we can all agree that the housing stock, in general, in NZ needs much improvement.

Bellasmum

I take it that most posting in here live in the South Island or the lower half of the North Island.

My answer is yes. We built our house in 1991 and no it does not have double glazing or central heating.

We do however live in Auckland and it is only on the odd occasion during the winter that we need to turn the oil heater on.

What we do make sure we do is run a dehumidifier during the winter months and open the windows to let the air circulate.

We only moan about the temperature in the summer when we come home and the house has been shut up all day ... but not because it's too cold !