How to stay warm this winter

As temperatures drop it is important to have a plan for how to stay warm this winter without sending your power bills through the roof. A mixture of good insulation and the right heating system will ensure a happy and healthy winter season.

Insulating Your Home

Look for the areas in your home where heat can escape and the cold can get in. This might be through your floors, wall, windows and doors:

If you have and older house with wooden floorboards, damp can rise up and heat can escape down. Look for warm, inexpensive rugs where you can, to insulate your floors. Newer houses with thermally broken foundations should experience less issues with floor heat loss.
Windows can be a major source of heat loss in a home. Again older (pre 2005) windows are less likely to be double glazed and may have small gaps in the frames that let cold air in.
Seal gaps where you can with filler and/or insertion tape which you can buy from your local hardware store. Then invest in thick, warm, thermal curtains which will trap heat in your rooms. Another tip is to close your curtains before your home loses the sun each day – this will help trap any warmth in your room instead of letting it escape out through the glass.
Walls that are poorly insulated will let heat escape too easily. While this is not an easy fix, it is well worth considering how you can do this in your home. The NZ government provides up to 80% funding for wall & ceiling insulation in certain conditions. It worth checking this out if you are a home owner and on a low income.
Damp air is harder to heat than dry, so it important to remove damp air from your home where you can. This could include not drying wet clothing indoors, venting out bathroom & kitchen steam more efficiently or using a “steam stopper” for your shower. Even on chilly winter days it is important to let fresh, dry air into your home which you can do by opening windows for a short while during the sunniest/warmest part of the day.

Heating Your Home Efficiently

Once you have improved your home insulation, an efficient heating system is next. There are several different ways you can heat your home – wood burners, pellet burners, electric heaters, gas heating systems and Heat Pumps. The NZ Government provides a handy guide to the energy efficient and carbon footprint of each heating system. Here is our quick list of pros & cons of each:

• Wood and Pellet Burners – great at using renewable source of fuel and can heat relatively large rooms too. Some models enable hot water heating. Firewood / Pellets are a cost and need to be kept dry in order to burn efficiently. Fires can’t be operated by timer and can take a while to get going which makes them less desirable on winter mornings. Fires should always have a fire guard where young children are present.

• Electric Wall/Free Standing Heaters – while handy for occasional use or to heat a small room, we do not recommend you rely on electric heaters to heat your home through winter. They can be expensive to run and less powerful than other types of heating.

• Flued Gas Heaters – these must be installed by a registered gas fitter so that toxic fumes and moisture is sent outside. Running off LPG bottles means relatively high costs for supply and usage so you need to be aware of running costs for this form of heating.

• Heat Pumps – a great choice for homes in Queenstown, Wanaka & Cromwell. Heat Pumps are one of the preferred option for heating homes in the Southern region of New Zealand. By using one of our recommend brands your Heat Pump will still work efficiently, even in low winter temperatures of up to -15°C.
Heat Pumps provide instant heat, can be set by times (or even your smartphone) and can heat large spaces and entire homes – check out our guide to ducted Heat Pump systems here. Newer styles can provide colour and discreet design for modern homes.
More energy efficient than electric heaters – providing up to 4Kw of heat energy for every 1kW of energy they consume. This makes for a lower carbon footprint, especially when you consider that electricity is 80% renewable in New Zealand.
It is important that you get the right advice on the best Heat Pump system for you. At Campbell Electric & Refrigeration we provide FREE Heat Pump quotes and plans which advise you on the recommended size, brand & placement of your Heat Pump. We also install multi room Heat Pumps, ducted, whole home Heat Pump Systems and Hot Water Heat Pumps.

By following a plan of improving insulation and choosing an energy efficient form of heating for your home you can make this winter a happy and healthy one. Get a Heat Pump quote or email us your house plans to get your FREE Heat Pump plan.

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