Heat pump worries

People telling other people heat pumps do not heat homes in Central Otago as well as log burners is a challenge the Otago Regional Council is facing as it tries to clean up the region's air.

The council's air quality report for 2010 shows the region is still exceeding the national air pollution standard, and councillors meeting last week wanted to know how the council's push to clean up air quality through the Clean Heat, Clean Air programme was going.

Regional Services group manager Jeff Donaldson said 368 fires had been replaced and about 1000 houses insulated through that programme.

Homes had to be insulated before they qualified for a new-heat-source grant.

However, in Central Otago there had been a huge interest in replacing old log burners with new ones, as homeowners wanted to heat their entire home, not just the room in which they were living.

"An awful lot of people enjoy their old fires ... even when we are taking it out the door, they're still trying to keep it."

Some Alexandra people who had installed heat pumps had found them less than effective during the middle of winter, Mr Donaldson said.

"There has been some backlash around that. It's of great concern, neighbours saying it [a heat pump] doesn't heat the house as well as a log burner."

Under agreements with the Energy Efficiency Conservation Authority (EECA), the programme was required to put heat pumps in 60% of homes and other energy-efficient heating in 40%.

The council was trying to renegotiate that with EECA and the Ministry for the Environment, seeking an acknowledgement that the weather was worse in Central Otago than elsewhere, he said.

 

Add a Comment

 

Advertisement