Hot & Cold

The basic principle of a heat pump is from an air conditioning system which uses a refrigeration system. A refrigeration system transfers heat from one place to another using a refrigerant.

So if you take your fridge at home as an example it absorbs heat with the evaporator (#3 – heat exchanger) and the refrigerant is pumped around to the condenser (#1 – heat exchanger) by a compressor (#4 – pump) in doing this you get cold on the inside and hot around the back of your fridge.

A heat pump uses this technology along with advanced electronic controls and compressors (pumps) that use inverter technology to achieve heat when on the heating cycle and cool air on the cooling cycle.

As it uses a heat exchanger to heat the air there is no form of contamination which provides a very clean heat.

The biggest factor that makes heat pumps so popular is that for every 1 unit of power used to run the heat pumps up to 4 or 5 times the amount of heat can be produced.

Here are some rough guidelines. (you will need to find out exact pricing from your local specialists before making any decisions)

A single HI-wall type system for an average living area $2,500.00 to $3,500.00 (Larger ones up to $5000.00)

A single Floor type system for an average living area $3,500.00 to $4,800.00

A multi split system with one outdoor unit and 3 indoor units $7,000.00 to $10,000.00

A ducted system for a 200M2 new home could be in the $10,000.00 to $15,000.00 range – It could be more depending on choice of system and controls. Large homes with very complex systems can go into tens of thousands of dollars.

The best way to compare is by comparing Brand, capacity, type of indoor unit and installation of the same standard, the expertise of the company you are going to choose and are you getting all of the required certificates of compliance to meet local by-laws such as an electrical certificate of compliance.

But you will need to check out how much you can get, depending whether you have a community services card or not or if you are a landlord and your tenant has a community services card.

The first consideration is given to insulation and if access is available to under floor and your ceiling both these areas must be brought up to building code levels to comply. If your home has been insulated to a level specified by EECA, limited funding of $500 (incl GST) is available towards a clean heating system. Maybe more if you have a comunity services card.

To get exact details and find providers of this service visit this website. Unfortunately many of the providers are not heat pump companies so do your home work and find out who the company that is going to install your heat pump if you go through this scheme.

Many companies selling heat pumps will often look for the easiest install to allow for competitive pricing in the market place afraid that if they suggest it should be in a different place because this will add to the price.

The closer your neighbours and particularly if it’s close to your neighbours bedroom the more likely they may complain.

Inverters have help with noise from start up which has been encountered in highly condensed residents like retirement homes. So technology solved this problem.

For many houses this will not be an issue to worry about but don’t be afraid to ask before its installed.

The larger the system the more careful you need to be and some brands will be better than others.

They all have outdoor noise ratings just realise that decibels go up in a multiplication type way so even one more decibel can be a lot.

The size of the outdoor unit must be considered with small ones unlikely to be a problem. While most people are more concerned about how the will look. If two systems are the same capacity but one is smaller physically than the other one, common sense would suggest that the smaller one will produce more air noise.

The noise will normally follow the air flow and fences and hedges can diffuse the noise (this is good), because heat pump systems need a lot of air it is not very practical to cover in the outdoor unit and making some form of silencer would not be cost effective, its far easier to pay a little bit more and have it installed in a better position.

Firstly hallways can be difficult to find a suitable spot and it is critical that the air flow be blowing long ways and not across (unless your hall is exceptional wide) otherwise the air will short circuit and perform poorly.

In warmer parts of New Zealand heating systems generally work quickly and are turned on and off as required and in living areas with heat pumps installed this works fine.  Whereas in colder regions its common to have the heating on much of the time.

There are two key points, firstly to heat the bedrooms from the hallway first the hallway must be heated and then this must naturally flow into bedrooms, this will take time and it is likely the bedrooms will not be as warm as the hall.

So if you have realistic expectations and are willing to run the system most of the time in cold weather it can provide warmth to adjoining rooms but as the unit is not directly in a particular room it is difficult to guarantee exact temperature control.

Another option particularly if you are a couple main using one bedroom install the system in there, or the correct way would be to install an individual unit in each room you want heated.

Approach this option with caution understanding how it will need to be operated and that there is no guarantee of temperature control in adjoining rooms.

Talk to your local specialist ask them for suggestions and what performance guarantee they will offer in this situation. Ask them how many successful installations in hallways have they done and how do they recommend operating it base on possible locations of the indoor unit.

While there are many brands too choose from and an ever changing number available I believe there are several key factors to consider.

Popular brands to check out (in no particular order) Mitsubishi Electric, Daikin, Panasonic, Fujitsu and Toshiba

Stick To Top Selling Brand Names

New Zealand is a small country (compared to many markets around the world) so to choose a brand that will have good back up support means choosing one of the top 5 or 6 that that also happen to be big sellers in Australia. As a side point and mentioned else where one top Australian brand has not done well here because they work relly well on cooling (Australia) and not so well on heating.

You Get What You Pay For

It’s the old story that you get what you pay for so while the cheaper brands may be worth considering for cooling a small bedroom or short term commercial use for long term reliability you will fear better with a brand that is well supported.

Installation Just As Important As Brand

Choosing a local reputable Heat Pump company is a must as installation has many pitfalls and incorrect installation can effect warranties so if your local supplier mainly deals with a certain brand then that may be a good reason to use it. The better customer they are to a supplier the more likely they’ll get help when something goes wrong.  I’ve seen cases when the problem was nothing to do with the brand itself yet the manufacturers local agent has stood behind it particularly for a good customer of theirs(That’s your Heat Pump company that you purchased the system from)

Warranties Minimum 5 Years

5 and 6 year warranties are great as long as if you ever need them the company is still here to stand by them. Refer to question 1 safest option is top selling named brands. Too many times brands have come sold systems and disappeared into thin air leaving no technical support or access to spear parts, often slightly cheaper units that end up being rather expensive.

Heating in New Zealand Is The Main Requirement

Not Cooling Like 80% Of The World market. It also happens that the top selling brands often perform on heating the best in New Zealand conditions. If you live in an area where winter goes below 0 degrees Celsius be careful with brand choice, ask your local expert what and why, talk to people you know and find out what brand they are using in these conditions.

Its always easier to check these things before you install a system and hind-sight provides wisdom.

Get The Right Size Heat Pump

Sounds simply but it gets mucked up or sometimes the thought is just choose the biggest system, which can also cause problems. Realise the output ratings on most heat pumps are when the ambient (outside) temperature is at 7 degrees Celsius so a 6 kilowatt unit will produce 6 kilowatts when the outdoor temperature is 7 degrees Celsius. When sizing a system it important that it will have the capacity in the  middle of winter when it may be zero degrees Celsius or even colder.

Hi-Walls and Draughting

A common complaint with regards to Hi-wall heat pumps (the most common type) is the draughting effect, this can happen when the heating unit is not running and the fan keeps circulating (often very slow or by pulsating) or when the inverter is running very slow and only producing luke-warm air (because your room is nearly at the desired temperature). More of an issue is when you sit right in the air flow and it blows what feels like cold air onto your feet. Positioning of the indoor unit is critical to minimise this. Choosing the right size unit and some brands are better than others. Just be aware it can be a problem and discuss option before installing one. Just to clarify there are thousands of people who have and like the wall mounted units.

Right Height

Heat Pump systems are designed for a certain purpose and have complex electronic control systems. It is very important that the indoor unit is mounted at the correct height as per the specification from the manufacturer. A Hi-wall unit should not be mounted down low close to the floor and neither should it be too close to the ceiling. Both of these can cause incorrect operation.

Noise and Outdoor Heat Pump units

To minimise the chance of having an issue with noise from your outdoor heat pump unit this needs to be consider before you install a system. Logically the larger the outdoor unit the more it will matter. The closer you are to your neighbours the more it matters. As an installer it can be easy to overlook this and take an easy option to install the unit both for ease of installation but also to minimise costs as this is a very competitive market. Inverter systems have a soft start and this help greatly at reducing noise during start up.

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