[Joolzr]

Hi all

We're moving into a rental with no central heating next week which is causing me some worry as I hate being cold.

What type of heating do you use/recommend? At the moment we are planing on getting a bunch of oil fin heaters. There seem to be a few shops which have them on sale at $100 each til the 1st July. Or are these sales like the ones at DFS?

The house has an open fireplace too which I'm looking forward too. Anyone any suggestions where to get wood in Auckland?

Thanks

Julie

[CJ22]

If it's anything like England, I'd look for those little post-card adverts in local shops for wood providers. They're usually a decent deal.

[JandM]

There are quite a few places with notices out at the side of road once you get out a little way (thinking Waitakere, or out beyond Albany to Dairy Flats).

[IanW99]

...
What type of heating do you use/recommend? At the moment we are planing on getting a bunch of oil fin heaters. There seem to be a few shops which have them on sale at $100 each til the 1st July. Or are these sales like the ones at DFS?
...


Many sales are like DFS, seem to be on every other week. Certainly is the case for some shops.

Heaters are a very seasonal thing though, so you will find it difficult to buy them at all in a few months time, you certainly won't find the selection that there is at the moment in shops such as the Warehouse.

With all things seasonal, at the end of the season then these products get sold much cheaper than normal so that they can get rid of them.

So my advice would be to buy what you really need now, and then buy any others when they are in the end of season sales.

Ian

[djchicane]

Hi all

We're moving into a rental with no central heating next week which is causing me some worry as I hate being cold.

What type of heating do you use/recommend? At the moment we are planing on getting a bunch of oil fin heaters. There seem to be a few shops which have them on sale at $100 each til the 1st July. Or are these sales like the ones at DFS?


Hi Julie,

I picked up an 11 fin Oil radiator from Bunnings for $46 last week, and it does a fair job of heating a reasonable sized room. I also have a Gas heater, (which uses a 9kg bottle, about $25 for a fill, and lasts me a couple of weeks), which is good for some 'Instant' heat.

Cheers, Dave

[Familyofmonkeys]

I would advise against gas heaters. A by-product of burning gas is water vapour...which will cause condensation. We have opted for halogen heaters for instant heat (far cheaper to run that electric fan heaters and no fan motor to run). They cost us about $30-$40 each in Mitre 10 last year and will heat a room up very quickly. We leave 2 on for the kids all night on the lowest setting 400 watt....and our electric bill is not too scary...about $250 per month in winter (and that includes running a dehumidifier 24/7).

[nippa&pippa]

Got kids? I would suggest to get fireguard too because when they are playing, they tend to forgot there is open fire nearby....

[Tia Maria]

Keeping warm in a rental, various ideas depending on rental, budget etc:

1) Get Lots of Oil filled rads, highest wattage you can afford with timers, we have one with a fan, but never use it. I'd buy one for each room, you can get them in the numerous sales - Farmers, Hammer Hardware etc, or with points, fly buys, ASB credit card points etc. Don't forget to place one right by your PC!

2) Dehumidifier - its easier to heat a room more effectively if you use one. Use one and move it about. Things to consider: noise, weight & wheels

3) Decent pair of slippers or three! (Warehouse have a few)

4) Micro Fleece - zip up cardi style, Kathmandu have a sale on this weekend. Or go to somewhere like Ezibuy for a cheaper version

5) Thermal lined curtains - it will probably come with curtains, but if a gale blows through them you will loose all that warmth from your newly bought heaters

6) Rugs for uninsulated wooden floors

7) Door snakes (Warehouse ... again!)

8) Hot water bottle - Pharmacies and Warehouse

All of this stuff is portable and can be taken with you, and if you decide NZ isn't for you, the heaters and dehumidifiers will sell easily on Trade-Me.

I use to be of the school of thought, of 'only heating the room you are in', but I now think it just doesn't get the overall temp high enough, so I still felt cold. Also it led to damp and mould in the kids room, which we didn't heat while they were at school. We now heat all rooms, although for the unused rooms its just the odd hour here and there, to keep the temp levels at an acceptable level.

I have known of several people who have wanted to throw the towel in because they were so cold in their houses. They spent all this money and effort getting here, but then were reluctant to have higher heating bills. To me they just seemed to be making it so much harder on themselves.

Obviously if you can't afford it, you can't afford it, but it really can make or break the whole experience, especially if you feel the cold. Don't underestimate the effect it can have on your mood and outlook on the whole move.

Hopefully you will be nice and toasty, get all the boring stuff done while the weather is so bad, and be nicely set up to enjoy summer when it comes around! :nice1

Cheers

Tia

PS Don't forget to get the chimney checked!

[Watna]

I agree completely with the post above. Very good! We're in a rental too which means you can't do much permanent things to insulate it.

Definitely by a dehumidifier. We didn't get one for a few weeks after we moved in and we've def noticed the difference if it's on in a room for a while that the room gets warmer easier afterwards.

When we moved in I went out and bought 2 pairs of fleecy trousers, 2 fleecey tops, slippers and Ugg type boots from the sheepskin warehouse ($145 but worth every penny!). Now when we come home I've got used to having to put more clothes on to keep warm. I also often have a hot water bottle I'll sit on my lap when watching tv etc.

We have one oil heater and 1 air blowy one. We'll put the little air one in the bedroom before we go to bed to get the bedroom warm. The oil one we use in the sitting room and we have a timer for it so it gets plugged in to the bedroom at night so I don't have to get up to a freezing house (I'm not a morning person). We bought the oil heater in the warehouse and it's actually quite good. Think it was about $70. We bought the other heater fairly cheaply in Briscoe's, they're always having sales. Dehumidifier was also from the warehouse and was about $125, I think.

On any really cold days we've just forgotten about the sitting room and gone in to the bedroom for the night. The sitting room has a kitchen attached and a big skylight so it's hard to heat. It's not ideal but at least we're warm.

Also, we bought a good electric blanket so the bed is always toasty when we get in to it. The one we have has an all night setting which is great if it's chilly. We also have a heavy mink blanket so we're always warm in bed.

I really do miss central heating. I miss being comfortable all the time in my home but I've accepted that that is just part of things here and there are things to do to keep you warm!

[stephenandjulie]

we have oil heaters in every room, on thermostat control 24 hours a day. we also have a pellet fire in the main living area which is used early morning and evening. our house is lovely and warm and we walk about freely as if it were centrally heated. our house is small though, this might be more difficult to achieve with a large house.

[Watna]

I forgot to mention above. The dehumidifier is great if you're drying clothes (we don't have a dryer and drying clothes is when I really miss radiators!). It takes a lot of the dampness out of them if you set it up near your drying rack.

[shakyle2906]

HI

We have the oil heaters in each of the bedrooms, which are on timer. Bought last year from the Warehouse and give a tidy amount of heat to take the chill off. Always remember to keep doors closed and as soon as we come home, curtains are closed!

We bought a calor gas heater when we first came over as our rental was freezing!!!!! Think it was about $150 dollars, the canister about $30 ish and then we had to fill it up. It did last a few weeks though!

Our bathroom must be the coldest room in the house at the minute, so we went out and bought one of the wall mounted small heaters that blow air, which is put on whilst the bath fills and then back on when we get out of the bath! Was about $30 from Mitre 10

We are lucky in our house to have a lovely wood burner!

Nice warm dressing gown and slippers too.........

I do miss the central heating, especially for drying clothes on wet days. When we first moved over, OH's mates said, you dont need a tumble dryer! I hated having wet clothes hanging around for days.............so guess what i bought!!

As for wood, we normally buy from the local papers.


Sharon
x

Good luck, I hate being cold!!

[Joolzr]

Hi all

Thanks so much for the advice. I'm already sitting here with a hot water bottle on my knee and have added a dehumidifier to our list for next weekend.

I'm hoping to do contract work for my old employers for a few weeks which will involve working from home so this advice is doubly welcome.

b.w

Julie

[Watna]

Hi all

Thanks so much for the advice. I'm already sitting here with a hot water bottle on my knee and have added a dehumidifier to our list for next weekend.

I'm hoping to do contract work for my old employers for a few weeks which will involve working from home so this advice is doubly welcome.

b.w

Julie

Best of luck!

If you're going to work from home then definitely do all you can to keep warm. My OH is starting a masters next week so haven;t been working. He actually told me he was jealous that I was working because I go to a nice warm office all day!

[Familyofmonkeys]

I forgot to mention above. The dehumidifier is great if you're drying clothes (we don't have a dryer and drying clothes is when I really miss radiators!). It takes a lot of the dampness out of them if you set it up near your drying rack.

Definitely agree with that :yes

[bstlaurent]

A bit late to the party, but is it possible to buy insulating / sealing plastic wrap for windows in NZ? Something like this:

http://www.acehardware.com/sm-shrink-window-kits--fi-1259828_cp-2627449.html

essentially shrink wrap for your windows, you apply it with double sided tape, then hit it with a hair dryer, and bam drafts are all gone. We use this every winter in Canada to cut down on heating bills.

If you can't buy this stuff, i know what's going in my container when i come over :)