26
Heating
Landlords must provide one or more fixedheaters that can directly heat the main living room to a maintained temperature of at least 18 ° C all year round .
How do you define a living room ? A living room is a room that is used for general everyday living . It can be a lounge , dining room , sitting room or family room . If there is more than one living room , only the main ( largest ) living room requires heating . Open plan areas are considered one space and will need an appropriately sized heater for that space .
How do we know what size heater is required ? An online heating assessment tool is available at tenancy . govt . nz / heating-tool . The tool asks a series of questions about :
• What region the property is in ( to take account of the local climate )
• How much space needs to be heated
• What surfaces ( walls , ceilings , floors , windows , skylights and doors ) heat can escape through
• How well these surfaces are insulated
• Whether walls , ceilings or floors are external , internal or a mix .
The tool provides a report that shows the minimum heating capacity in kW required for each property . It can be used to check if the current heating will meet the standard or if it is necessary to install a new heater .
What are the general requirements for heaters ? Heaters must :
• Be located in the living room , or provide heat directly to the living room ( e . g . through a duct or vent )
• Be fixed to the home
• Have a heating capacity of at least 1.5kW
• Have a thermostat if it ’ s an electric heater or heat pump .
• Not be an open fire , unflued gas heater , or other unflued combustion heater .
What if there is an existing heater ? Landlords don ’ t need to add more heating if they have one or more existing heaters that :
• Were installed before 1 July 2019
• Each have a heating-capacity greater than 2.4kW
• Meet the general requirements for heaters as outlined earlier in this section
• Have a combined total heating capacity that is at least 80 percent of what is required . This only applies to heating devices installed before 1 July 2019 . When the heater needs replacing , it must be replaced with one that meets all the requirements of the heating standard .
Can we top up existing heating sources ? If the existing heating doesn ’ t have the required heating capacity , landlords can add a smaller fixed electric heater to ‘ top up ’ the heating . In this situation , landlords must meet all of these conditions :
• The existing heating was installed before 1 July 2019
• The required heating capacity is more than 2.4 kW
• The existing heating meets the general requirements for heaters
• The ‘ top up ’ needed is 2.4 kW or less .
For example , if you have a heat pump with a heating capacity of 3.6 kW , but you need a total heating capacity of 6.0 kW , you can add a fixed 2.4 kW electric heater with a thermostat to meet the standard .
What are the exemptions to the heating standard ? There are only two specific exemptions to the heating standard . These exemptions are :
• Where it is not reasonably practicable to install a qualifying heating device
• Where the rental property is a certified passive building .
It can be classed as not reasonably practicable to install heating , providing any professional installer can ’ t access the area without :
• Carrying out substantial building work , or
• Causing substantial damage to the property , or
• Creating greater risks to a person ’ s health and safety than is normally acceptable , or
• It is otherwise not practicable for a professional installer to carry out the work .