Quote:
Originally Posted by loopylu
However I have a question... obviously I've read that central heating as such doesn't exist over there and that there are other alternatives that people have talked about such as heat pumpts etc... but what I don't get is WHY they don't have central heating... do most houses just have electricity rather than gas??? Is it possible to buy a central heating system (or even bring it with me from the UK and install it)???
|
There will be a fair percentage of people who just can't afford to have heating installed and also a lot of born and bred kiwis who have never experienced the luxury of it, therefore don't understand what all the fuss is about. I think it's becoming more popular now with the influx of us British wimps who are demanding our home comforts. Up until recently, the main form of heating in the kiwi home was by woodburner and these are still very much in evidence.
Heat pumps are reckoned to be reliable, easy to use, clean and reasonably cost effective once you've overcome the initial cost of installation. In fact, we're just on the verge of having a heat pump put into our NZ home and will wait with baited breath for the verdict from Taffy and WG on both the effectiveness and cost of running it. It's a ducted system which means that heat is taken from one large heat pump and spread around the house via ducts to each room. It's a bit more expensive to install than having a couple of smaller heat pumps heating just parts of the house, but then the whole house will be covered. A heat pump takes the damp out of the air, which makes the air heat up quicker and, in turn, is less expensive to run. They are NZs answer to central heating.
I don't think there's any piped gas to houses in NZ unless, maybe, they have it in the towns and cities, but I haven't heard of it. I've only heard of gas room heaters, which run off cylinders. but they're notorious for dumping damp into the atmosphere so not a good idea. Most heating in NZ, that doesn't involve a wood or pellet burner, is powered by electricity.