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Under carpet heating Posted by: Vema 16 Nov 2009 3:18pm

Does anyone know anything about under carpet heating with heating mats?

Central ducted heating: nothing else... Posted by: Kanchan Bandyopadhyay 05 Oct 2009 9:37pm

We've started the process of installing Ducted central heating (with natural gas). Having grown up in Melbourne, I remember these with fondness. With an insulated ceiling and floor the ducting should make our house a comfortable 21 degrees every day of autumn/winter/early spring.

I wish Consumer had spent a little more time discussing this - perhaps worked with the "Choice" cousins?

Heat Pump Ducted (Floor) & Humidity Posted by: SML 28 Jul 2009 11:15pm

We are in Auckland and have a 1930's house that has been renovated (parts of the house are new). We awould like to go with Heat Pump Ducting (in the floor). It has been stated that - as an optional extra - Outside Air can be brought in to reduce / eliminate condensation.
Sounds great, because we don't have a ventilation system, yet we want to reduce the moisture in our home. In winter we can feel the damp (yet under our house is dry & all appliances are ducted to outside).
We do understand that heating the air reduces the 'relative' humidity, but we have been in one house with ducting and the warm air felt damp and sticky.

Our question - how effective is the process of introducing Outside Air ie: will it eliminate / reduce the humidity? Will it be as effective as a ventilation system in reducing the humidity?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks
Kind Regards

Gas ducted central heating??? Posted by: Flootyboots 22 Jul 2009 8:09pm

We have a 2 storey 1960's house in Wellington. It is approx 230 m2. There are 4 bedrooms and 2 living areas to heat. We are looking at either a gas ducted central heating system OR a ducted heatpump system. We are already connected to gas. We have googled the subject and are obtaining info and quotes from professionals, however we would like to get some UNBIASED feedback from the public on how you find your system and which is best - specifically running cost comparisons. We would be using a timer and basically running the system for 2 hrs in the morning and 5 hours in the evening. Can anyone give us some advice to help us decide on the most efficient and economical system to install & run? THANKS :)

Reply 1: Posted by: Planespotter 02 Jan 2010 11:14am

http://www.consumer.org.nz/reports/heating-options/fuel-prices-compared

This chart can be hard to find on the consumer website but it does give a graphical display of the costs of the various forms of heat energy in New Zealand.

As a guide I find when visiting other homes in the winter, that anyone with gas heating cannot afford to heat their homes to anything like a comfortable temperature.

Reply 2: Posted by: NZrebel 07 Apr 2010 10:38am

I disagree. A few years ago we lived in a house with gas central heat and it worked well and we payed a very reasonable amount. As a bonus, humidity was never a problem.

Reply 3: Posted by: Vinny 08 Apr 2010 9:32am

We live in Auckland and have a 2 storey 1970 house with no insulation in the walls (yet) but we do have ceiling insulation and we have 10 water filled radiators powered by a gas condensing boiler. In the coldest months it uses a fair amount of gas, usually a 45kg LPG tank a week ($95) to have the heating on about 3 hours in the morning and all evening, I think once we get insulation in the walls it will use lot less. The system cost $15k to install but I have seen people now doing them for about $11k. We have no problems with humidity or draughts as the heat is radiated making the objects warm and not the air. I would also suggest having a fuzzy logic thermostat whichever option you go for. They can be more efficient than a normal one as they learn the temperature patterns of the house and dont just turn on and off at the set temperature all the time.

Reply 4: Posted by: Noeline McQueen 13 Apr 2010 5:25pm

We live in a 2 story house in Lower Hutt. As it is against a hill it was very cold and difficult to heat. Four years ago we installed a Savona heating system. (Has a small gas boiler with 10 radiators through out the house) We have been more than satisfied with the result. A warm, dry house, heating on a timer and power bills are less than what we were paying even though power has gone up. I suggest you contact Savona or look at their web site.
NM

Reply 5: Posted by: Noelyn Gordon-Glassford 17 May 2010 9:50pm

Hi, we now have exactly the same question - what did you people end up doing? How have you found it?

this chart is quite hard to find Posted by: Planespotter 28 Jun 2009 3:10pm

can we have a link from the home page for it?

Heat pumps dehumidify in cold weather Posted by: Planespotter 04 Jun 2009 10:42pm

Can they? Won't that just cool down the house as unlike a dehumidifier where both the cold coils and the hot coils are inside the house so no energy is lost, a heatpump is extracting heat from the inside of the house and the heat is being released by the external heatpump coils.