Early preview. We're still finishing this site, so some details shown are placeholders.
Find my installer

Regions

Heat pumps in Hawke's BayA region that needs its heat pump in January and July.

In Hawke's Bay, a heat pump works hard in both seasons. NIWA records an average of 44 days a year above 25 degrees in Napier, yet Napier still needs far more heating than cooling. Add the regional council's airshed rules for open fires and older burners, and it's little wonder most Napier and Hastings homes already heat with one.

What changes across the Bay

Summer heat worth cooling

NIWA gives Napier Nelson Park 218 cooling degree-days a year, against 80 at Wellington Aero, and Whakatu on the Heretaunga Plains averages 34 days above 25 degrees. A Wikipedia table citing NIWA, which doesn't give its years, puts the average January high in Hastings at 25.5 degrees.

Winter still does most of the work

The same Napier station logs 1,482 heating degree-days and averages 8 air frosts and 24 ground frosts a year, mostly between May and September. Hastings' July nights average a low of 3.6 degrees in that Wikipedia table, and MBIE's H1/AS1 guidance puts both councils in climate zone 2.

Airsheds and burners

In 2023, 42.0% of homes in the Hawke's Bay health district used a wood burner as a main heater, against 28.2% nationally (EHINZ). Hawke's Bay Regional Council says open fires can no longer be used on properties under two hectares in Airzone 1 of the Napier or Hastings airsheds, and non-compliant burners and open fires must stop once a property is transferred. Hastings Airzone 1 also has a tighter emission limit than Napier.

Damp after Cyclone Gabrielle

EHINZ found 21.4% of people in the Hawke's Bay health district lived in a damp home in 2023, against 20.6% nationally. Napier was one of only 2 of 67 territorial authorities where that share rose from 2018, which EHINZ links to Cyclone Gabrielle.

Salt along the coast

BRANZ explains that homes within 500 m of the coast, or 100 m of a tidal estuary such as the Ahuriri, sit in exposure Zone D for sea-spray salt, and its testing found ocean winds can carry salt more than 20 km inland. Ask about corrosion protection in Napier and on the Haumoana and Te Awanga coast.

Gas in parts of the region

Powerco's gas network serves Hawke's Bay. Fitting a flued gas heater is a job for a registered gasfitter.

Rules that apply wherever you live in the Bay

Hooking a heat pump up to the power is prescribed electrical work, so a registered and licensed electrical worker has to do it. Their Certificate of Compliance is due no later than 20 days after the job, and the Electrical Safety Certificate is one to keep for at least 7 years.

Pipes can go through a hole of up to 300 millimetres in an existing house without a building consent, thanks to Schedule 1 of the Building Act 2004. The Building Code and the district plan still apply, and outdoor unit noise limits live in the district plan, so check with Napier City Council or Hastings District Council before using a spot near a boundary.

Every private rental has had to meet the healthy homes standards since 1 July 2025. If you own and live in your home, look at Warmer Kiwi Homes, EECA's programme: EECA decides who qualifies, and it stopped taking new wood burner applications on 9 January 2026. Hawke's Bay Regional Council also says it can provide advice and funding for efficient heating, heat pumps included, so ask the council directly.

Before an installer visits

You can

  • Ask the regional council whether your burner complies, especially before a sale.
  • Check the label's heating figures at 2 and 7 degrees, and the cooling figure at 35.
  • Near the sea, read what your warranty says about corrosion.

Leave to a licensed installer

  • Sizing for your coldest night and hottest room.
  • Corrosion coatings, and an outdoor spot with air around it.
  • The electrical connection, the CoC and the ESC.

What we'd do

If we lived in the Bay

We'd buy for July first, with a 2 degree heating figure that holds up, then check it can cool the room that bakes in summer. If an open fire or old burner still does the heating, we'd replace it before listing the house, not after. Near the sea, we'd want corrosion protection on the quote. No local taker within 48 hours? Heat pump installers elsewhere in Hawke's Bay may then see it.

Cities in Hawke's Bay

Ready for the right installer to take a look?

Your postcode and three quick questions. Registration-checked local installers who specialise in your kind of job see it, and the one who takes it gets in touch to quote.

Free for you. Installers pay us for each job we pass on.

Read next

  1. 01Heat pumps in NapierSummer heat, frosty mornings, airshed burner rules and salt by the bay: heat pumps in Napier.
  2. 02Heat pumps in HastingsCold nights, hot afternoons, tighter burner limits and character villas: heat pumps in Hastings.
  3. 03Air conditioning in HastingsHow to size a heat pump for hot Hastings afternoons without short-changing frosty July nights.
  4. 04Air conditioning with a heat pumpCooling with a heat pump: sizing for summer, the label's cooling figures, and night-time noise.
  5. 05Warmer Kiwi Homes heat pump grantsWho EECA's programme is for, what its current heat pump list covers, and how to check before you sign.
  6. 06Do 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.

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.

Find my installer