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Unfloor Heating Solution
in Karaka
Underfloor heating first arrived in New Zealand approximately forty years ago. Since then it is becoming an increasingly popular choice with new home owners looking for an environmentally friendly, energy efficient option for home heating with low operating costs. That was one of the factors that appealed to the owners of this Karaka home when they looked at heating options for their new build. Home builders, Total Build Ltd, requested a home heating system that was extremely energy efficient, low maintenance with low running costs and hidden from sight. They were looking for an option that would work well with the photovoltaic they planned to install to generate their own electricity. This combination will result in additional savings in annual energy consumption.
Underfloor
Solution
Tony Champion of Champion Heating provided an underfloor heating solution powered by a Performance Plus air to water heat pump water heater that fitted the bill perfectly. Champion Heating have been designing and installing heating systems for over 25 years. As owner and director of Champion Heating Tony says “It is very important to me to provide heating systems that meet or exceed the expectations of home owners”. Years of experience have taught him what to look out for to ensure people get the best solution for their home. Tony says, “One of the most important, often overlooked considerations when choosing a heat pump is the longevity and after-sales service availablity”. He has found many imported brands don’t last very long. One of the biggest problems can be the serviceability of the heat pump, parts that are expensive or have been discontinued with no comeback for the home owner. Because of this, for the last eight years Tony uses Performance Plus or Duoheat heat pump brands from Hot Water Heat Pumps Ltd.
"One of the most important, often overlooked considerations when choosing a heat pump is the longevity and after-sales service availablity"
Hot Water Heat Pumps Ltd is a New Zealand company that has been around for over 30 years making heat pumps for New Zealand conditions and providing parts and service for their own and other brands of heat pumps. Using Hot Water Heat Pumps Ltd saves Tony both headaches and money because he doesn’t have to repair or replace equipment but more importantly it gives the home owner reliability and peace of mind. The tile floor used in this Karaka house allows heat to permeate easily from the underfloor.
This demonstrates another advantage underfloor heating offers; a gentle non-invasive warmth, that doesn’t dry out the air, blow air around, or present any obstacle to furniture placement or aesthetics.
The Performance Plus Advantage
Compared to other underfloor heat source options such as electric element, gas or diesel boiler, a Performance Plus underfloor heat pump is most cost competitive. It takes the free energy from air by only using a small amount of a clean renewable energy making it more environmentally friendly as well. The efficiency of the heat pump water heater can be extended even further with a Duoheat, dual purpose heat pump that can be used to heat underfloor as well as either a pool, spa, or domestic hot water. The ground floor of the house is approximately 100m2. The 7GUb5-1 Performance Plus heat pump consumes about 1.5kW to produce about 5kW of heat energy for the home. The heat pump runs approximately 4 hours in the morning and 4 hours in the afternoon/evening. With the solar electricity generated for general domestic use and to power the heat pump the cost of electricity would be further reduced. These advantages, plus the fact that this equipment is built to handle New Zealand conditions, even climates as cold as those in Wanaka or Queenstown, make Hot Water Heat Pumps Ltd the preferred choice of professional and experienced underfloor installers like Champion Heating. The end result is that the home owners are happy and the builders who contracted Champion Heating and used a Performance Plus heat pump water heaters were so happy with the results they have since constructed more houses using the same heating solution.