Heating a rental property

[Peter Pooh]

I have a rental property about 110m2,has an open plan lounge,kitchen & dining area with a heat pump in.
Down the opposite end of he house is 2 bedrooms (one with 3 young children in) and parents room, with another bedroom and bathroom/toilet in between.
Heat pump keeps lounge area warm, but with no heating down the other end of the house it is cold ( house has polished floors )
What can people suggest I do - put an eco heater in the hall way ( I believe these only heat an area of approx 12m2 ??) or get a portable heater for them

Your thoughts please

Thanks

[Gladdynook]

are they asking you to provide additional heating? normally the tenant will provide their own portable heaters ie oil column, electric fan etc.

One thing i'd do is go to your local carpet retailer (or even trademe for secondhand), and get some off cuts/ end-of-line carpets that you can lay in the bedrooms. Have them edged and even if they don't cover the entire area of the room, it will make a big difference. Also as they arent fixed down they can easily be replaced/thrown out if they are damaged.

[Leftette]

Point them to www.mitre10.co.nz and suggest they'd be a good place to start looking for small fan heaters.

[drelly]

This is why I install log fires and not heat pumps.

[Eugene]

Consumer magazine says log fires are just as expensive to run as heat pumps; do you find that even if so tenants are likely to keep the house warmer with a log fire?

[Leftette]

I'm about to do the same, drelly, but how is it log fires heat other ends of a house better than heat pumps? I'm assuming, apples-with-apples, both are sans transfer-systems. Hot air is hot air. [smart arsed comment removed for fear of reprisals from the thin of skin].

[Wayne]

I would have thought a log fire would be a problem in a rental. I suppose if tenants are there long term they can buy wood in summer when it is a reasonable price and store it but dry wood is expensive in winter.

[Leftette]

Then there's the safety issue. OK in my home, but no way would I let a tenant loose on an item that's the cause of lots of house fires if not properly handled.

[Maccachic]

Mine has a fire in it best way to heat a house in Dunedin (with heat transfer) never had an issue with it or tenants use of it. How many house fires are started by log fires? Would have thought cooking / smoking/ electrical was the major cause.

[PC]

Those eco panel heaters are gutless.
You'd be better off with a 1-2kW panel heater on the wall that has thermostat control.
The electric bill will take a hit.

Do you have insulation in the ceiling/floor?
Thermal drapes on the windows?

[Eugene]

Plastic film over windows seems to be popular, anyone used it?

[Keithw]

One thing i'd do is go to your local carpet retailer (or even trademe for secondhand), and get some off cuts/ end-of-line carpets that you can lay in the bedrooms. Have them edged and even if they don't cover the entire area of the room, it will make a big difference. Also as they arent fixed down they can easily be replaced/thrown out if they are damaged.

From personal experience I can 100% agree with this suggestion, it makes a huge difference. I just moved into a place with wooden floors & its freezing. Even when the fan heater warms up the room the floor is still cold. I put down some carpet pieces that cover most of the floor & it has made all the difference.

[Peter Pooh]

Those eco panel heaters are gutless.
You'd be better off with a 1-2kW panel heater on the wall that has thermostat control.
The electric bill will take a hit.

Do you have insulation in the ceiling/floor?
Thermal drapes on the windows?

Yes, house has been done under the subsidy, and quite sure curtains are thermal drape

[Peter Pooh]

From personal experience I can 100% agree with this suggestion, it makes a huge difference. I just moved into a place with wooden floors & its freezing. Even when the fan heater warms up the room the floor is still cold. I put down some carpet pieces that cover most of the floor & it has made all the difference.

Will look at this and will talk to them about a heater.

Apparently Dimplex make a very good range of panel heaters up to 2 Kw and they cost about $2.50 for 10 hrs

[Wayne]

Will look at this and will talk to them about a heater.

Apparently Dimplex make a very good range of panel heaters up to 2 Kw and they cost about $2.50 for 10 hrs

2kw hours is 2kw hours. Power is something like 25c/unit (kw) so 10hrs of a 2kw heater would be $5. But, of course, the thermostat will kick in when the room is warm so maybe $2.50/10hrs long term.