How New Zealanders Heat their Homes

Why don’t NZ homes have central heating systems?

There is no nice way to say it, our housing stock is poor when compared to overseas. Settlers predominately used timber to build and heat homes in New Zealand, so we built houses that were designed around wood fires, which were open fires for a long time. This could be where the kiwi mindset of one room heating and ‘put another layer on’ first appeared. Let’s not forget that regulation for insulation didn't come into homes until 1978 and that was a very low requirement, some houses are only just now being re-insulated! The majority of housing stock here is still quite old with a lot of kiwis doing minimal DIY maintenance, resulting in draughty, cold and damp homes for a lot of New Zealanders.

While New Zealand isn’t perceived to get as cold as places like Canada and the UK, it still has a very wet climate with a big drop in temperature overnight. Along with mindset, cost is also an issue. Plumbed gas central heating can be at least $12,000 to install and is not always possible to retrofit into older homes.

All of this means that central heating is non-existent in more than 95 per cent of our homes.

What this means for New Zealanders

2018 provided the most comprehensive look to date at the state of New Zealand housing, with new questions in the 2018 Census and 2018 GSS, and a detailed inspection of over 800 houses from the 2018–19 pilot housing survey (PHS). Among other things, the PHS found that:

·      Dampness and mould were common in New Zealand homes. Around 1 in 5 homes were damp ‘sometimes’ and 1 in 6 had mould larger than A4 size.

·      1 in 5 New Zealanders lived in a home that was always or often too cold in winter, but this rose to around 2 in 5 Pacific peoples.

·      Housing problems, such as cold, damp, and mould, were more common among households that were not owner-occupiers, did not have enough money for everyday needs, and had four or more household members.

·      Owner-occupier households were more likely to have efficient heating appliances, such as heat pumps and wood burners, than non-owner-occupier households. Owner-occupied households were also less likely to use portable gas heaters (please, please don’t use these), or not to heat their dwellings at all.

How do Eco Geeks heat their homes?

At Eco Geek we believe in saving you energy, time, money, AND helping you make your home warm and healthy. We have chosen electric radiators and infrared heaters because retrofitting central heating was a luxury we just couldn’t afford. We also couldn’t have our kids growing up in a cold and damp villa. Along with investing in double glazing, draught stopping and top notch insulation, we have fitted heaters that can be controlled on our phones that plug in to the wall but heat so much better than fan or oil column heaters.

If you are interested in a radiant heater, we have a range of options, from our High Wall Infrared Radiant heaters to LHZ radiator heaters and more.