Topic: Need some ideas about heating our home

Need some ideas about heating our home 

Hi,
We live in a 160sqm weatherboard home with underfloor and ceiling insulation, single glazing. We have a fireplace in the lounge and that is the only form of heating. That is great in the evenings to sit beside but we freeze in the morning or when we come home at night.
We are looking at heating options, only have about $10k to spend.

We looked at heat pumps but would need at least 2 to heat whole house (and maybe still wouldn't get into the bedrooms) and i'm not in love with the look of them. Does anyone do cool looking heatpumps? Have not been able to find anything on the net or seen ones that are inset or anything. My in-laws have a huge one that looks like a car is driving out of their wall. The salesman who came out said we would need a big one to heat out large living area.

So that leads us to a ducted system but i have read people saying that the airflow is not pleasant.

And have also read about using the heat pumps to heat your hot water cylinder, which would be a great money saving i bet.

We would also be interested in wing, sun, water energy but don't even know where to start with that or how realistic that is with our budget.

Can anyone recommend someone to talk to or have any advice for us.

Cheers. (sorry for the novel!)

Re: Need some ideas about heating our home 

Basically you need to stop the heat going out first, before deciding on your heating/heat source. If you have done that (including using heavy drapes across the single glazed windows), and stopping draughts through gaps in windows/doors etc, then, to get a heated room in the morning or in the evening when you come home: heat pump is the easiest/most automatic/least capital cost to do. BUT they may not be the cheapest to run.

EECA has a very cool calculation tool for how much heating you need:
http://www.energywise.govt.nz/how-to-be-energy-efficient/your-house/heater-sizing-calculator

And about insulation:
http://www.energywise.govt.nz/how-to-be-energy-efficient/your-house/insulation

Seeker

Re: Need some ideas about heating our home 

Hi
we have a Rinnai Energysaver 556FTR, a flued gas heater.
apart from gas being a finite resource it is great as we use it very consciously. It has the advantage of being able to set a timer which you can use to have a welcoming warm kitchen etc in the morning.
I believe they are also available for bottled gas, the large bottles. We are on gas main so this one heats the southern room which can't be reached by the pellet fire that warms the rest of the house.
Cheers, Ellen