[Trevor Joe]

I've just been looking at houses in Auckland on the internet.

Do the majority of houses have wood burners or can you buy them with other forms of heating, also have they got double glazing over there and is it needed.

[jess]

I don't know about Auckland in particular since I live further south, but housing is a big topic here onthe forum -- double glazing is rare and it's needed. See this thread (http://www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=5802) from earlier. :roll

[Babette & Andy]

We moved to Auckland from Cheshire in March. We left Manchester with snow on the tarmac to be treated to the coldest winter in NZ for 72yrs :( As you will read on the above thread, it's not that it's colder in Auckland than what you're used to in the UK, it's just that the houses tend to be colder. For a while over winter we preferred to go outside than sit in the cold inside!!

Many of the houses I've been in have woodburners, which do give generally give a nice bit of warmth once they've got going, but they don't tend to warm up your whole house. We therefore also had (small) fin oil radiators in the bedrooms which were on timers, as well as a (portable) gas heater in the living area for instant warmth in the morning. Still using the gas and woodburner now (October) in the morning / evening respectively.

There isn't a lot of double glazing around from what I've seen. People are getting more into good insulation where possible, and the installation of various types of warm air duct systems (i.e. combination air conditioning / warm air systems which are placed in ceilings/lofts and then vented throughout houses).

We are currently looking for our first house to buy and heating is BIG on our list of priorities. Bring plenty of fleeces when you come out here ;)

Babette