Onehunga: the details that matter
One of the oldest suburbs
Onehunga was New Zealand's first Fencible settlement, with the soldiers arriving in 1847. Many of its 1920s bungalows and earlier villas have since been restored.
Character in the town centre
Onehunga is a Business special character area in the Unitary Plan. For additions to its character defining buildings, the plan asks whether air conditioning units are located and designed sympathetically.
Apartments going up
Total private dwellings in the Onehunga area rose from 6432 to 7410 between 2018 and 2023. Across the Maungakiekie-Tāmaki Local Board area, 39.2% of occupied dwellings were joined dwellings.
Mostly renters
In 2023, 51.8% of Onehunga households didn't own their home or hold it in a family trust, against 34.0% nationally.
Damp homes
23.1% of occupied homes were always or sometimes damp in 2023, 5.4% always had mould bigger than an A4 sheet, and 6.1% used no heating. 46.0% leaned on electric heaters.
On the Mangere Inlet
Onehunga lies on the northern shore of the Mangere Inlet, an arm of the Manukau Harbour. BRANZ's summary of NZS 3604 puts land within 500 m of a harbour in exposure zone D.
Where the outdoor unit can go
On a character building in the town centre. Talk to Auckland Council before you settle on a street-facing wall, and ask whether the spot you have in mind needs resource consent.
On a restored bungalow or villa. A side or rear wall keeps the front of the house as it was. BRANZ wants at least 500 mm clear on the air inlet and outlet sides, and says a north or west wall gives the best heating.
In an apartment or terrace. Ask the body corporate first: Tenancy Services advises reading its operational rules before any work. A heat pump installer who does apartment work regularly will ask about the balcony, the roof and the pipe route before quoting.
Near the water. Within 500 m of the inlet, get corrosion protection on the quote and keep up heat pump servicing in Auckland.
Tell us what you're working with. Registration-checked installers who handle this kind of job see it, and only the one who takes it gets your details.
What we'd do
If it were our Onehunga place
We'd settle the outdoor unit's spot before comparing brands, because in Onehunga that's what narrows the choice. Then we'd deal with the damp: with more than one in five homes always or sometimes damp, we'd want extractor fans venting outside and a heat pump sized for the main room in place of portable heaters.