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Christchurch, Canterbury

Heat pumps in ChristchurchSized for a July morning, not a mild afternoon.

An installer for Christchurch

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Heat pumps are already how most of Christchurch keeps warm: 86.17% of homes used one in the 2023 Census. What sets a Christchurch install apart is frost. A unit chosen on its mild-weather rating can fall short on a July morning, so size it on the cold-weather figure and give the outdoor unit open air to defrost in.

What Christchurch's weather and rules mean for your heating

Frost on more winter mornings than not

NIWA averages 18 ground frosts in June, 19 in July and 17 in August at Christchurch. On the 1991 to 2020 normals, July's average overnight low is 0.7 degrees at Christchurch Airport and 2.1 at the Christchurch Gardens station, so frost varies across the city.

A long heating season, the odd hot day

NIWA gives Christchurch 2,370 heating degree-days a year, 370 of them in July, against 68 for cooling. Warm nor'westers can push summer highs past 30 degrees, but only on about 3 days a year, so cooling is a bonus here, not the reason to buy.

Damp is lower here, but winter air is wet

EHINZ puts the Canterbury health district's damp-home rate at 15.2% in the 2023 Census, under the national 20.6%. Still, NIWA's mean 9 am humidity at Christchurch reaches 88% in July, and that moist air is what streams down cold windows.

Salt by the sea and the harbour

NZS 3604 treats land within 500 m of the sea or Lyttelton Harbour as exposure Zone D, its high sea-spray band. BRANZ advises extra anti-corrosive coatings on outdoor units in coastal areas.

Burner rules in the Clean Air Zone

Environment Canterbury no longer allows low-emission wood burners to be installed in the Christchurch Clean Air Zone, and sets a 20-year age limit on burners there. Christchurch City Council says any new burner must be an ultra-low emission burner (ULEB), with a building consent.

Houses, townhouses and bottled gas

The 2023 Census found 109,887 Christchurch households in separate houses and 38,835 in joined dwellings. There's no reticulated natural gas in the South Island, so gas heating here means LPG.

The heating jobs that come up in Christchurch, and why

Swapping out an old wood burner. 17.55% of Christchurch homes still used one in 2023. At its age limit, the choice is an ultra-low emission replacement with a consent, or a heat pump. Our comparison with other heating weighs them up.

Replacing a unit that gives up in July. Mitsubishi Electric NZ says a heat pump rated at 5.6 kW delivers about 4.76 kW at 0 degrees outside, so a room needing 5.6 kW is better served by its 6.8 kW model. See our sizing guide.

Warming the bedrooms too. A ducted heat pump or a multi-room heat pump reaches rooms a lounge unit never will.

Keeping it going. Book heat pump servicing in Christchurch before winter, see heat pump repairs if it plays up in a cold snap, and look at home ventilation if the windows still stream once the house is warm.

Consents, noise and shared walls

Christchurch City Council says a heat pump doesn't need a building consent, provided registered electricians install it and certify their own work. Exempt doesn't mean unregulated, though: the Building Code and the Christchurch District Plan, its noise rules included, still apply, and a building sign-off won't shield an outdoor unit from a noise complaint later. In a unit title townhouse, check the body corporate's rules before anything goes on a shared wall.

What we'd do

If we were heating a Christchurch house

We'd size the main unit on its 2 degree heating figure and treat the headline number as a mild-weather figure. We'd put the outdoor unit in the open and clear of bedrooms, not under a deck where Mitsubishi Electric NZ says a unit can create its own microclimate. Near the sea, we'd want corrosion protection written into the quote. And with an old burner near its age limit, we'd get a heat pump quoted before committing to a new burner. The right person for that is an installer who fits heat pumps for Canterbury frosts every week. Send us the job when you're ready. Should no local installer take it within 48 hours, it may open up to heat pump installers across Canterbury.

Heat pump and heating jobs in Christchurch

Areas around Christchurch

Questions people ask

Do I need a building consent for a heat pump in Christchurch?
Not according to Christchurch City Council, if registered electricians install it and certify their own work. They owe you a Certificate of Compliance no later than 20 days after the job. A heat pump water heater is a different product, so don't assume the same answer for hot water.
What size heat pump does a Christchurch lounge need?
That depends on the room, its insulation and its glass, so have it measured. Mitsubishi Electric NZ says sub-zero South Island winters call for a bigger heat pump than the same room in Auckland, or a model built for the cold. Our size calculator is a starting point.
Can I still put a wood burner in a Christchurch house?
Only an ultra-low emission one, and Christchurch City Council says installing it needs a building consent. Environment Canterbury no longer lets low-emission burners into the Clean Air Zone.
Can a Christchurch homeowner get a Warmer Kiwi Homes grant for a heat pump?
That's EECA's decision, not ours or an installer's. Warmer Kiwi Homes is EECA's programme for owner-occupied homes, and EECA says it makes no exceptions to its criteria. Our Warmer Kiwi Homes guide explains more.

Ready for the right installer to take a look in Christchurch?

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Read next

  1. 01Heat pump servicing in ChristchurchWhen to service a Christchurch heat pump, what frost and sea air do to it, and what to ask the technician.
  2. 02Ducted heat pumps in ChristchurchWhole-house ducted heating for a Christchurch winter: roof space, frost sizing, townhouses and what to ask.
  3. 03What size heat pump do I need?How to work out the kW for a room, and why the 2 degree figure on the label matters.
  4. 04Do you need a consent for a heat pump?When a heat pump needs a building consent, what applies without one, and the noise limits for outdoor units.
  5. 05Heat pumps compared with other heatingHow a heat pump stacks up against a wood burner, gas, electric heaters and central heating.
  6. 06Heat pump installers in CanterburyHeating across Canterbury: frost from Christchurch to Timaru, Clean Air Zone burner rules, coastal salt and consents.

Where this information comes from

We don't publish prices. Every home is different, so an installer's written quote is the only real number. How we write and check these pages.

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