Heat Pumps | Whangārei

It depends on the size of the unit, the type of system, and how straightforward the installation is. A single wall-mounted unit in a standard room is at the lower end. A ducted system serving a whole house is a bigger job involving ceiling space, ducting work and multiple outlets. The two things that move the price most are the distance between the indoor and outdoor units, and whether the building makes access easy. We’ll provide a free, no obligation quote after visiting and assessing your property.

A heat pump is one of the cheapest ways to heat a room in New Zealand, and considerably cheaper than plug-in electric heaters. It doesn’t generate heat, it moves it from outside to inside, which is why it delivers several units of heating for every unit of electricity it uses. Running cost depends on the size of the space, how well insulated it is, and what temperature you set.

We work it out from the volume of the space, ceiling height, insulation, the amount and orientation of glazing, and how the room connects to the rest of the house. If a heat pump is too small, it works too hard and struggles to heat the room. If it’s too big, it switches on and off too often, which makes it noisier, less efficient and wears it out faster. We size every unit on site.

Individual units work for a room or two, and they’re the more cost-effective option if you mainly heat the living area. A ducted system makes sense when you want consistent temperature through the whole house, when you’d otherwise need three or more separate units, or when you don’t want indoor units visible in every room. Ducted also needs sufficient ceiling space, so it’s easier to design into a new build or a renovation than to retrofit. We’ll tell you honestly which one fits your house.

Yes, and in Northland that’s often as valuable as the heating. Most heat pumps have a dry or dehumidification mode that pulls moisture out of the air without heating the room, which helps with the condensation on windows and the musty smell that comes with our humidity. A warm, dry house is also far less prone to mould. It isn’t a substitute for ventilation or fixing an actual moisture problem, but as part of the picture it makes a noticeable difference.

Yes, but how much it helps depends on when you use it. Many homes run their heat pump in the evenings and on winter mornings, when solar is producing the least. The pairing works best for summer cooling, which lines up with peak generation, and for warming the house in the afternoon so it’s already comfortable by evening. A battery lets you store daytime solar and use it for heating at night. If you already have solar, we’ll factor it in. If you’re considering both, doing them together means one team and one site visit.

We’re a Preferred Partner of Panasonic Heat Pumps, which is what we install and recommend for most jobs. Preferred Partner status means we’re trained on the range and supported directly by Panasonic, so the unit you get is matched to the space. We install tier-one equipment only, the same approach we take with solar and batteries. We’ll talk you through what the differences between models actually mean for noise, efficiency and running cost.

You’ll get a Certificate of Compliance (CoC), but you don’t normally need a building consent. Installing a heat pump is prescribed electrical work, so you’ll receive a CoC and an Electrical Safety Certificate (ESC) when we finish. Our installers are registered electricians, so the electrical side and the installation are handled by the same people.

Two things cover you: the manufacturer’s warranty and our workmanship guarantee. The manufacturer’s warranty covers the heat pump itself, typically five to ten years depending on the brand and model, and is claimed through the manufacturer. Our 10-year workmanship guarantee covers our installation: the mounting, the pipework, the electrical connection and the commissioning. If the unit fails, that’s a manufacturer warranty claim. If our installation is at fault, we come back and fix it at no cost to you.

Clean the filters yourself every few months, and have the unit properly serviced annually. Filter cleaning is a five-minute job that makes a real difference to efficiency and air quality. An annual service covers the parts you can’t reach: coils, drainage, refrigerant, and the outdoor unit. High-use households and commercial systems benefit most, since a unit running all day degrades faster than one used a few hours a night.

Sometimes, and we’ll tell you after we’ve looked at it. If the existing pipework is the right size, in good condition and correctly installed, reusing it can save time and cost. But older refrigerant lines aren’t always compatible with modern systems, and reusing pipework that isn’t right will shorten the life of the new unit. We’d rather replace it and have the installation last than save you a few hundred dollars now.

Under the Healthy Homes standards, rentals need a fixed heating device in the main living room that meets a minimum heating capacity for that space, and heat pumps are the most common way landlords meet it. The required capacity is calculated for each property, so there’s no single answer for what size unit you need. We size and install to the standard, and provide the certification that you require.