Heating your home with gas
3 June 2016
If you already have gas heating in your home, you’ll stay warm and cosy this winter.
Regular servicing
Be sure to get all gas appliances in your home serviced regularly. Gas appliance retailers Rinnai advise doing this at least every two years. It’s a good idea to do it at the end of summer to beat the autumn/winter rush.
Use only an authorised gasfitter to carry out the work. It’s illegal (and dangerous) for anyone else to do it and you could also invalidate your home insurance.
Once the appliance has been serviced and is safe to use, your gasfitter will supply you with a gas safety certificate to file safely.
Heating a new home
If you’re embarking on a new home build, and wondering about the heating options, your Master Plumber or Master Gasfitter can help with ideas to suit your home and budget.
Gas-fired heating is one way to go. Gas provides fast, convenient and controllable heat.
Some benefits of a gas heater are:
- Appliances endorsed by Sensitive Choice of the Asthma Foundation provide allergy and asthma sufferers with better air quality for easier breathing
- Convenient and easily controlled heat with thermostat control
- Rooms are heated quickly
- Natural gas heating is often cheaper than heating operated by electricity.
A gas fire provides the added benefits of:
- A cosy ambience – the heart and feature of the home
- Gas products tend to have a higher heat output and will heat larger areas more quickly
- Gas heating is powerful and independent of outdoor temperatures
- In comparison to a wood fire, there’s no need to store firewood and you don’t get the mess from firewood or have to clean out a chimney
- Across all gas appliances (water, heating and cooking), gas is quick and easy and therefore also very convenient.
- There’s no need to have a heat pump mounted on the wall of your living area
Switching or connecting to gas heating
Gas is available throughout New Zealand. Natural gas and LPG are available in the North Island, and LPG only in the South Island. To find out if natural gas is available in your street, visit www.vector.co.nz/gas-estimator.
Once you know that gas is available to your property, you can choose the appliance you want and sign up with a gas retailer. They will manage the process of connecting you to gas, making this process as easy as possible.
If you are connecting to natural gas, use the link above to get an online cost estimate from Vector. They can then arrange a visit your property to provide a more accurate quote to connect natural gas from the street to your property.
This involves connecting an underground gas pipe from the gas network main in the street to your gas meter. A gas meter will be installed by the network provider and you then need to make contact with your Master Gasfitter, who will connect the gas from this gas meter into your home and then connect gas to the gas appliances you install.
