Wellington Gas or Electric for Cheaper Heating Costs

[lissie]

After a few years away I am genuinely shocked by the price of electricty and gas here - expecting to get hit by a $500 bill this month!

We are looking for a new PPOR - but it may become a rental if I can't handle another 6 months of winter in Wellington!

Our current place which we just sold had unflued gas heaters - which for me were fast and efficient and with wooden windows the condensation is no big deal (the house is very dry no mould). But I noticed buyers didn't seem to like them. I know heat pumps are fashionable but I have serious concerns about their running costs - also seems silly to buy one and then know you will never use the air con side of things in Wgtn!

So what are the better options for heating - we are seeing a fair few places with wood burners, but I am also wondering about either a flued gas heater or these new econo heat panels which seem crazy cheap ($200 at Mitre 10) or possible gas heated hot water radiators (which I friend is delighted with).

Just trying to get a feel for what is actually an advantage in terms of buying a property - heat pumps seem to feature high on agents "benefits" lists - but I'd like to know what they cost to run 24/7 with temps at around 9C as we are getting at the moment

[Keithw]

In theory heat pumps should be cheaper to run than the old bar heaters, as you get 2 - 3 times the output for every watt you put in.
eg a 1kw bar heater running for 1 hour draws 1kwhr or 1 unit of electricity.
normally a 1 bar heater will not go very far.
however the same 1kw input should generate 2.5 - 3kw of heat from a heatpump, enough to make the house cosy & warm.

Problem is that now we are not content to "continue to huddle around the 1 bar heater" & want to heat large rooms, or have them hotter.
so whereas before the 1kw heater was blazing away 24/7 & just taking the chill off the place, the heat pumps also end up running 24/7 instead of the 1/3rd of the time they should be if we settled for the same environment.
Same power consumption & more heat, but no saving in costs !

Its just the same as living to your income. More income does not necessarily mean more left over- we tend to raise our desires to meet our incomes.

[dandan]

For 4 similar 4 bedroom houses in Wellington for the year of 2009, where there was generally at least one person at home most of the time, heating costs were as follows:
Gas flued heating approx $2000
Electricity approx $1850
Heat pump approx $700
Pellet burner approx $700

10KW Pellet burners cost around $4000 to buy and $1000 to have installed and certified. Advantage is flame effect, fire look and smell. Mild disadvantage is purchasing sets of 15kg bags of pellets, storing them and periodically loading them into the burner hopper.

[Wayne]

I would agree - either Heat pump or pellet burner (and Consumer agrees in their latest heating article).
I also agree that Heat pumps often up costing more to run but that is a choise thing really - you can turn them off or set them lower.

Econo heaters, what a laugh! 400W is 400W - there is no gain like a Heat pump (and Heat pumps are more like 300-400% than 200-300%). They look flash and have a good name but are just watts in and watts out!

[Meehole]

A heat pump should be run at 21 degrees to be efficient and it you should have it measured for the size of the room or rooms that you are heating. Too small a unit and you end up raising the temp to warm the room up and this increases the power bill. If they weren't efficient the Govt would not be offering a $500 subsidy on them. Realise though that if there is insufficient insulation it will be a waste of money running it. Nobo heaters are excellent for the bedrooms as they are very efficient and have a 24 hour timer on them with about 3 settings. It's not only buyers that are aware of the heating in the home, also tenants are alot better informed now and are getting picky about what a landlord is offering.

[Wayne]

Nobo heaters are excellent for the bedrooms as they are very efficient and have a 24 hour timer on them with about 3 settings.

Not knocking the heater but they are only 100% efficient at best - a 200W heater will consume 200W of power! No more efficient than any other electric heater.

[essence]

Also compare power company and charges.

Go here, makes for interesting reading.

Also if you go here, have a read of the articles re heating (ie heat pumps, convection heaters etc.)

[lidistick]

If it was going to be a rental, then heatpumps for sure. One off cost and tenants like having heatpumps and generally will pay small premium to secure a home with heating vs one with none. Also convenience of hitting a remote and setting the temperature. No electricity cost to landlord (they pay as much as they use). No calls in the middle of the night to ask where to buy pellets!

Heatpump is a chattel and is depreciable accordingly
Cheers.

[lissie]

@lidistick - interesting comment - I would never consider them for rentals as I rather suspect as KeithW says the shock of the first $500 power bill will probably stop the love affair with heat pumps for the tenants!

We saw one house for sale which had 2! heat pumps installed - it was only a 100m2 3 bed - I suspect there was no wall insulation at all - but the outside is probably quite nice and warm!

[lissie]

For 4 similar 4 bedroom houses in Wellington for the year of 2009, where there was generally at least one person at home most of the time, heating costs were as follows:
Gas flued heating approx $2000
Electricity approx $1850
Heat pump approx $700
Pellet burner approx $700

10KW Pellet burners cost around $4000 to buy and $1000 to have installed and certified. Advantage is flame effect, fire look and smell. Mild disadvantage is purchasing sets of 15kg bags of pellets, storing them and periodically loading them into the burner hopper.

Pellet burners seem to have been invented since we were away (last 3 years) - what are pellets ? How many suppliers? Can you burn wood or coal instead? What happens if the suppliers go out of business - are you stuck with a specialist appliance that won't work with any other fuel?

[muppet]

Excellent article, essence. http://www.consumer.org.nz/news/view...ectric-heaters

I know of one house in Hamilton that has at least four/five heat pumps.
One in each bedroom and one in the lounge, dining room area.

Visit central Queensland and every new house will have lots of heat pumps, I mean air conditioning units.

[Meehole]

Not knocking the heater but they are only 100% efficient at best - a 200W heater will consume 200W of power! No more efficient than any other electric heater.

True but can you adjust a normal heater to come on at say 6 in the morning and then switch off at 8am. Come on again at say 7pm and off at 9pm and still be safe enough while running to have your kids sleeping or playing around it? If you are a breastfeeding mother they can also be set to come on to coincide with a night feed. It's better than running an oil filled heater alnight which is what most people do in these situations.
I was not suggesting the Nobos to replace a heat pump, merely as an alternative to other heaters available at present.
They are actually recommended by a company called Right House who are somewhat experts when it comes to energy eficiency.

[lissie]

True but can you adjust a normal heater to come on at say 6 in the morning and then switch off at 8am. Come on again at say 7pm and off at 9pm and still be safe enough while running to have your kids sleeping or playing around it? If you are a breastfeeding mother they can also be set to come on to coincide with a night feed..

I'd be surprised if a more expensive heater didn't have a timer (by unflued gas one does) - or you just use one of those plugin timers which allow you to turn the appliance off/on multiple times in 24 hours

[Meehole]

If you know of such a heater that is safe enough to do this with aided by the cost outlay of a timer then I would be keen to know the brand and model. At this stage I know 100% that these heaters offer very efficient heating of rooms.
Of course none of these are that efficient if there is no or insufficient insulation.

[graemeh]

If you know of such a heater that is safe enough to do this with aided by the cost outlay of a timer then I would be keen to know the brand and model. At this stage I know 100% that these heaters offer very efficient heating of rooms.
Of course none of these are that efficient if there is no or insufficient insulation.

You have been reading too much advertising material.

No electric heater can possibly be more efficient than any other (a heat pump is not an electric heater)