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Timaru, Canterbury

Heat pumps in TimaruThe town a heat pump maker uses as its frost example.

An installer for Timaru

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Timaru needs more heating than Christchurch: NIWA gives it 2,555 heating degree-days a year to Christchurch's 2,370. Mitsubishi Electric NZ even uses Timaru as its example of a place where day and night temperatures often reach zero or below, and says a heat pump there should be chosen on its output at 2 degrees outside. Size for that, and most of the rest follows.

What Timaru's winters mean for heating

Colder still at the airport

On the 1991 to 2020 normals, Timaru's July nights average 0.6 degrees, and Timaru Airport's -0.9. NIWA records 35 days a year below zero and a lowest temperature of -9.1. If you're out of town nearer the airport, plan for the colder end.

A long season, little cooling

Against those 2,555 heating degree-days, Timaru logs just 38 cooling degree-days (NIWA), and MBIE's H1/AS1 places Timaru District in climate zone 5 of six. The town has hit 41.3 degrees, but it averages only 2 days a year over 30.

Choose on the H2 rating

Mitsubishi Electric NZ says that in Timaru a heat pump's output rated at 2 degrees outside, its H2 rating, should be treated as the minimum when choosing a unit. The Zoned Energy Rating Label, which EECA regulates here, shows that figure beside the 7 degree one.

Wood burner country, with limits

EHINZ says 55.6% of South Canterbury dwellings used a wood burner as a main heater in 2023, the third-highest rate of any health district and nearly double the national 28.2%. Environment Canterbury no longer allows low-emission burners to be installed in the Timaru Clean Air Zone, and gives low-emission burners there a 15-year age limit, shorter than Christchurch's 20.

Heat pumps in three homes out of four

In the 2023 Census, 74.47% of Timaru District homes used a heat pump as a main type of heating.

Damp, salt and gas

EHINZ puts South Canterbury's damp-home rate at 16.8%, under the national 20.6%. Homes within 500 m of the sea or the harbour sit in NZS 3604's exposure Zone D, where BRANZ wants extra anti-corrosive coatings on outdoor units. And with no natural gas reticulation in the South Island, gas heating here means LPG bottles.

The jobs that come up in Timaru

Replacing a burner at its age limit. Fifteen years comes round faster than twenty. Before ordering another burner, which needs a building consent, compare it with a heat pump: our heat pump and other heating comparison sets out the trade-offs.

Upgrading a unit that can't cope. BRANZ says an undersized heat pump runs constantly trying to reach its set point, which can make the outdoor coil defrost again and again. If yours was bought on its 7 degree rating and labours every frosty morning, it may simply be too small for Timaru.

Heating more of the house. Where bedrooms stay cold all winter, a multi-room heat pump or a ducted heat pump spreads the heat further than one lounge unit.

Servicing near the port and the beach. Mitsubishi Electric NZ says coastal systems may need servicing more often than the yearly minimum. See heat pump servicing.

HRV in Timaru: what you're really looking for

HRV is a company, and so is DVS. If you're after a home ventilation system, the choice is between positive pressure, which usually draws air from the roof space, and balanced heat recovery, which brings in outside air through a heat exchanger. On a Timaru winter night that matters: Consumer NZ says blowing cold roof space air in during winter means ramping up the heating.

A ventilation specialist will look at your joinery and how airtight the house is before recommending either. Our home ventilation page explains both. Whichever you choose, heat the house properly as well, because ventilation alone won't keep the windows dry in a Timaru July.

What we'd do

If we lived in Timaru

We'd choose the heat pump on its 2 degree heating figure, as Mitsubishi Electric NZ suggests, and out near the airport we'd treat nights below zero as normal. We'd set the outdoor unit in open air, off the ground and clear of bedrooms. Close to the sea, we'd want corrosion protection in writing. And if the burner is nearing 15 years, we'd get a heat pump quoted well before the deadline rather than in a rush. Whenever you're ready, describe the job and your postcode. If no Timaru installer takes it within 48 hours, heat pump installers elsewhere in Canterbury may see it too.

Questions people ask

What size heat pump do I need in Timaru?
That depends on the room's size, insulation and glass, so have it measured. Choose on the 2 degree heating capacity, which Mitsubishi Electric NZ says should be the minimum in Timaru, and use our size calculator as a starting point.
Can I swap my old wood burner for another in Timaru?
Environment Canterbury says low-emission burners can no longer be installed in the Timaru Clean Air Zone, so check with it what can go in before you shop. Any new burner needs a building consent too.
Will a heat pump keep working on Timaru's coldest nights?
Yes, though with less output. BRANZ says some air-to-air heat pumps still heat down to -15 degrees but lose efficiency as it gets colder, and Rinnai NZ says it can't promise heating performance below zero. Expect more defrosting on the hardest frosts.
Is HRV the same thing as home ventilation?
No. HRV is a business that sells ventilation systems. The system types are positive pressure and balanced heat recovery, and a ventilation specialist can tell you which suits your Timaru house.

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

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.

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Read next

  1. 01Heat pump installers in CanterburyHeating across Canterbury: frost from Christchurch to Timaru, Clean Air Zone burner rules, coastal salt and consents.
  2. 02What 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.
  3. 03Heat pump size calculatorRoom size and insulation in, a rough heating size in kW out, using BRANZ's rule of thumb.
  4. 04Heat pumps compared with other heatingHow a heat pump stacks up against a wood burner, gas, electric heaters and central heating.
  5. 05Home ventilation systemsWhat a home ventilation system does, the two main types, and how to tell which one suits your house.
  6. 06Heat pump servicingHow often to service a heat pump, what a good service checks, and why the warranty cares.

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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