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Heatsmart FAQ
Why should I fit Central Heating?
- Short Answer: Cold and damp, or warm & cosy? You could live in a home that is 21°C in the living areas and 18°C in the bedrooms, that is fully controllable and energy efficient. It would arguably be better for your health, your wellbeing and add significant value to your home.
- Long Answer: Central Heating was first developed by the Romans over 2000 years ago, since then it has been refined and improved upon until we can now control our indoor environments to a tenth of a degree Celsius while using energy sources up to 500% efficient. These systems coupled with good insulation levels mean that we can enjoy a universally heated home with little or in some cases no environmental cost. In fact, the World Health Organization recommends indoor living spaces be a minimum of 18°C, in NZ our Tenancies agency recently put in place rules that govern the temperature of rented accommodation and our own building code specifies that buildings with public access must be kept at a minimum of 16°C, but for a private residence - we have little to no rules or guidelines for heating of our homes, we just have rules for insulating them.
Can you fit Radiator systems to an existing home?
- Short Answer: Yes, we can fit Radiator central heating to any home.
- Long Answer: If you have a timber house on piles with at least 400mm of crawl space then it is relatively easy to run a radiator pipe network under the property. A timber house on a Slab, if there is a good amount of roof space, we can run the radiator pipe work through the ceiling and drill down the internal walls without removing the Gib. A solid walled house on a slab is a bit tricky, but we have done some very tidy surface mounted copper pipe systems.
Can you fit Underfloor heating to an existing home?
- Short Answer: Yes, but with limitations.
- Long Answer: It is possible, there are some major expenses involved, we would normally advise to keep the cash and go for a radiator system, but it is possible. There are products that overlay onto your existing floor and products that clip to your timber subfloor. These products all work quite well but come at a significant monetary and disruption cost.
What type of heat-source do I need?
- Short Answer: While there are a number of local authority restrictions in place regarding certain types of heat-source, in almost all cases we can find a solution that will work and comply with NZ standards and local rules.
- Long Answer: Solid fuel heaters such as log burners and wood boilers do have restrictions under clean air (NESAQ) rules, if you have 2 or more Hectares of land then you are usually exempt, but you must check with our local authority before making any decisions on Heat-source. Kitchen Ranges (stoves with an oven that can also be cooked on) and also multi-fuel burners are not covered by NZ Standards clean air rules, HOWEVER, some local unitary authorities (such as Environment Canterbury) have restricted them under their district plan. Oil burners are in most cases clean air approved, but a unit must be on the Worksafe approved burner list. Wood Pellet / Biomass Fires and Boilers must still comply with local clean air rules but are much cleaner burning. Electric boilers, Air to Air, Air to Water and Water to Water heatpumps do not utilise combustion and are therefore virtually unrestricted by clean air policies.
How much will it cost to install?
- Short Answer: It all depends on how big of a system you need or want. Some smaller systems can come in for less than the price of a Ducted Air to Air Heat-pump system, while other systems with multiple high-end heat-sources can run much higher.
- Long Answer: A typical system install may take 5 to 10 days to fully install and the labour content is a large proportion of the overall cost. We have traditionally tended to stick with reliable products that offer good value & warranties over outright cost & this has always stood us in good stead. Reputable products installed correctly will give you a system you can rely on to keep you & your family warm even in the harshest of winters.
How much will it cost to run?
- Short Answer: We believe strongly in the conservation of resources, maximising efficiencies & keeping running costs as reasonable as we can. Whatever heat-source you choose and whatever fuel source is required we will endeavour to extract the most out of it.
- Long Answer: In addition to the above, another consideration we do have to take onboard is the future cost of the energy source and compare that with other methods of energy. Some more traditional energy sources, while being extremely energy dense and quite a bit cheaper than others, are only going to get more and more expensive in the future. This is quite an expansive topic ~ Please see our running costs section for further reading.
What's the 'best' system?
- Short Answer: It depends on what you need, it is our task to find the best solution for you, your family and your lifestyle. A professional family that is out of the house by 8AM and not back until 7PM need controllability & a fast response time (no point heating a house if there is no one there). They would not need the same solution as a working homestead with free firewood, where people are in and out of the house multiple times a day.
- Long Answer: There really is no best system, all systems would have benefits and trade-offs - it is the bespoke nature of our system design that sets them apart.
Can I install it myself?
- Short Answer: In theory yes, however, there can be significant pitfalls, legislation, local rules and warranty issues that would make us advise against this.
- Long Answer: Any system installed in New Zealand will need to be Consented & comply with the Building Code, which is essentially an Act of Parliament. NZ Standards are in place as a means of demonstrating compliance with the Code. Also, the fitting of most of these products needs to be done by qualified people, members of industry bodies (such as the NZHHA or NZICH) or Manufacturer approved installers. So, in theory it is possible but really not advisable.
How far will you Travel?
- Short Answer: We will design, supply & support Nationwide, but as a general rule we traditionally install in the northern half of Canterbury, there are a number of good quality installers in NZ, please visit the WWW.NZICH.NZ for a list of installers in your region.
- Long Answer: We have installed systems in other territories, but this is always by negotiation, this is due in part to our commitment to doing a good job for a good price, travelling long distances can get expensive, therefore we limit our territory to about 2.5 hours of travel time.
What else do you do?
- Short answer: Although we primarily cater to the residential heating market, we do some commercial and light industrial work also. Anything that requires a heated space, we can usually find a solution.
- Long Answer: We have been involved in a number of commercial and industrial applications where close coupled temperature control was required. In addition, with getting more and more involved in off-grid and semi-passive projects, we have had to incorporate a number of other disciplines. This has pushed us to look more closely at overall energy budgets for a number of associated applications. This is somewhat shaping what we do and what we need to offer, a number of our projects have very tight electrical specifications, pushing us to look at other technologies and other ways of doing things.
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