Every residential tenancy in New Zealand has to meet the healthy homes standards, and the one that catches the most landlords out is heating. It is not enough to have a heater in the lounge. It has to be a fixed heater, it has to be the right type, and it has to have enough capacity for that particular room.
Here is what that means in practice for a Northland rental.
The standard is about capacity, not about having a heater
The heating standard requires one or more fixed heaters in the main living room, with enough combined capacity to reach and hold 18 degrees in that room. The required capacity is calculated from the size of the room, the area of glazing, the level of insulation, the construction type and the local climate zone.
That last point matters up here. Northland sits in a milder climate zone than most of the country, which usually means a lower required capacity than the same house would need in Waikato or further south. It does not mean the calculation can be skipped.
Not every heater counts
The following cannot be used as the main source of heating under the standard:
- Open fires
- Unflued combustion heaters, including unflued gas heaters
- Most plug in electric heaters, because they are not fixed
- Any heater with a capacity below 1.5kW
An existing heat pump can absolutely qualify, but only if it is the right size for the room. Plenty of units we come across were sized to the budget at the time rather than to the space, and they fall short.
Open plan living is where people get caught
The standard applies to the main living room, which is the largest habitable room used for general everyday living. If your rental has an open plan lounge, dining and kitchen, that whole space is usually treated as one room.
The capacity required for a combined space is considerably higher than for a lounge on its own, and a heat pump chosen for a closed off lounge will often not comply once the wall comes down. This is the single most common reason a property that “already has a heat pump” fails.
You need a record, not just a heater
Landlords have to be able to demonstrate compliance, and a healthy homes compliance statement has to be included with any new or renewed tenancy agreement. If it is ever challenged at the Tenancy Tribunal, the question will be what evidence you hold.
Keep the capacity calculation, the specification of the heater installed and the installation record together in the property file. Tenancy Services publishes the full detail of the healthy homes standards, including what has to be disclosed and when.
Doing several properties at once is cheaper
If you own or manage more than one rental, it is worth having them all assessed together rather than one at a time as tenancies turn over. We can work through a portfolio, assess each property, and come back with a schedule showing what each one needs and what it will cost. That lets you plan the spend across a year instead of reacting to it.
Getting it assessed
JP Air Con assesses rentals for the healthy homes heating standard right across Northland, from Mangawhai and Dargaville through to Kerikeri and the Far North. We measure the room properly, tell you the capacity required, and if a new heat pump is needed we install it and certify the electrical work ourselves.
Call us on 021 344 340 or get in touch through the contact page, and if you have several properties let us know up front so we can schedule them together.