Central Heating Christchurch

Hydronic heating warms a house by pumping hot water from a boiler or heat pump through a closed loop of pipes, either to radiators on the walls or to pipework in the floor. The heat is quiet and even, with no fan blowing dust about, and each room can be kept at its own temperature.

We design and install new systems, service and repair existing boilers, and add radiators or underfloor zones to systems already in place. The plumbing, gasfitting and commissioning are done by licensed tradespeople, with a gas certificate for any LPG boiler work.

Pricing: quotes are free, and every job gets a fixed price before we start, so there are no surprises on the invoice.

Central Heating Jobs We Handle Across Christchurch

• Central heating installation
• Underfloor heating installation
• Gas boiler service
• Boiler repair
• Radiator installation
• Hydronic heat pump installation

Why hydronic heating suits Christchurch

Christchurch averages about 80 ground frost days a year, with around 50 nights below zero at the airport, and a southerly can bring a hard frost to the plains. Those cold, still winter nights are exactly when steady background heat earns its keep.

Home heating is also changing under Environment Canterbury's Clean Air rules. On most residential sections in the Christchurch Clean Air Zone, only ultra-low emission wood burners can now be installed, and low-emission burners become non-compliant 20 years after installation. Households whose burner is reaching that date are weighing up what to replace it with, and hydronic heating is one option worth pricing alongside heat pumps and other electric heating.

Radiators, underfloor or both

Panel radiators hold relatively little water, so they heat up and cool down quickly, which suits rooms used at set times. They are also the easier retrofit, because the pipes can run through a suspended timber floor or the ceiling space with little disruption.

Hydronic underfloor heating runs pipe through a concrete slab or screed. The floor becomes one large, gentle heat source, but a slab takes time to warm, so it suits living areas used most of the day. BRANZ Bulletin 688 covers the design, installation and commissioning of embedded floor heating, including insulation under the slab so heat goes up rather than into the ground. Many homes combine the two: underfloor in a new extension and radiators in the original rooms.

How It Works

Choosing the heat source: LPG boiler or heat pump

There is no natural gas network in the South Island, so a gas boiler in Christchurch runs on LPG. A boiler is a heavy, steady user of gas, so it usually needs a bulk LPG tank rather than a pair of bottles, or a connection to a piped LPG network where one runs in your street. A boiler can run radiators at the higher water temperatures they like.

An air-to-water heat pump heats the water with electricity instead. It works best at lower water temperatures, so it pairs naturally with underfloor heating and with radiators sized generously for the room. Its outdoor unit and the pipework to it must be protected from frost. If you are weighing gas against a heat pump, we price both so you can compare installation and running costs for your house.

Bungalows, rebuilds and new subdivisions

Christchurch's older bungalows, many weatherboard with a brick or roughcast base, usually sit on suspended timber floors with good subfloor access, which makes running pipes to radiators in every room practical. A renovation with insulation going in and linings off is the cheapest moment to do it.

Many houses rebuilt after the earthquakes on TC2 or TC3 land sit on enhanced concrete rafts or engineered foundations, and new homes in growing areas such as Halswell, Rolleston and Lincoln are mostly on slabs. Underfloor heating has to be decided before the slab is poured, together with the manifold position, slab insulation and boiler or heat pump location, and on engineered foundations the design must fit what the engineer has specified. We work from the plans with your builder and can fit it around the rest of the new build plumbing.

Boiler servicing and common faults

Like any gas appliance, a boiler should be serviced regularly by an authorised gasfitter; WorkSafe advises at least every two years for gas water heating appliances. A service checks combustion, the flue, safety devices, pump, expansion vessel and system pressure.

Bleeding a radiator lets out trapped air and a little pressure, so the system may need topping up afterwards. If you keep having to top it up, it is losing water somewhere, and that needs finding rather than refilling, because fresh water brings in oxygen that corrodes the system. Our leak detection gear helps trace losses under floors without lifting more than necessary.

The faults we are called about most often include:

• Pressure gauge falling until the boiler locks out
• Radiators cold at the top, which usually means trapped air
• Radiators cold at the bottom, often sludge in the system
• Boiler lighting then shutting down with an ignition or flame error
• Pressure relief valve dripping outside
• Banging, gurgling or kettling noises from the boiler

What affects the cost

Every system is designed for the house, so we give a free quote after a site visit and heat loss check. The main factors are the number of rooms and radiators, radiators or underfloor, LPG boiler or heat pump, whether a bulk LPG tank is needed, access under floors and in ceilings, the controls and zoning you want, and how much existing pipework can be reused.

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