By Nick Gelling
Product Test Journalist | Kaipūrongo Whakamātautau Hautaonga
We all know them as heat pumps. It’s easy to forget they can even be used for cooling. But with the right system, your ‘heat pump’ can be as useful for air con in summer as it is for heating in winter.
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Unlike a plug-in or ceiling fan, heat pumps will actually cool the air in your home. And, compared with portable air conditioners, they’re much quieter and more efficient.
Due to how New Zealanders use their HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) systems, our overall score for these units is mostly based on heating performance. But with the weather getting warmer, you might want to know which models do a good job of air conditioning in summer, too.
How we assess air conditioners
Our approach to scoring heat pumps is a little different to how we usually assess products. Rather than doing our own testing, we collate and analyse accredited laboratory data provided by the manufacturers.
We compare all the heat pumps we assess against other models of a similar size. For example, because low-capacity heat pumps tend to be more energy efficient, a small model has to be really efficient to stand out and earn a good efficiency score.
