Heat pump installation in New Plymouth
Your installer will size it for the room rather than the floor plan, and put the outdoor unit where the westerly can't get a clear run at it, so it heats properly now and is still doing it in ten years.
What it costs
These are fitted prices, covering the unit, the brackets, the pipework, the drainage, the electrical connection and the labour to fit it tidily and test it. What lifts one quote above another is the capacity the room actually needs, how far the pipework has to travel, and whether the outdoor unit wants coastal-grade fittings.
| Type | Supplied & fitted | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| High-wall bedroom or small room | $2,200 to $3,200 | Around 2.5kW. One room, one wall, done in a morning. |
| High-wall main living area | $3,000 to $4,500 | A 5 to 6kW unit, and the job most New Plymouth houses actually book. |
| High-wall large or open-plan | $4,000 to $6,000 | A 7 to 8kW unit for a knocked-through living, dining and kitchen. |
| Multi-split a few rooms | $6,000 to $12,000 | Several indoor heads off one outdoor unit, so the lounge and a couple of bedrooms get sorted without three boxes down the side of the house. |
| Ducted whole home | $12,000 and up | Vents in every ceiling and nothing on the walls. Needs the roof space to work in. |
You'll get a firm price once your installer has the right measurements and details of your job. Costs can vary a lot, and the cost page goes into why.
What’s included in the price
Supply and install is handled as one job, so there's no chasing a separate supplier and sparky.
- The heat pump, sized to the room rather than the floor plan
- Corrosion-resistant brackets where the coast reaches
- Insulated pipework and graded drainage so the condensate clears
- Electrical connection and certification
- Commissioning and a walk through the controls
- A tidy-up before they leave
- Manufacturer warranty on the unit
- Removal of the old unit if there is one
How a heat pump installation works
A single high-wall is three to five hours, so half a day covers it.
Free quote
Tell us the room, your suburb and roughly how old the house is. That's enough to come back with a size and a price.
Site visit
Your installer looks at the room and then walks round the outside, because on this coast where the outdoor unit ends up matters nearly as much as what goes on the wall.
The install
The indoor head goes up on brackets bolted into solid framing, the outdoor unit is set level and off the ground, and the pipework is graded so condensate drains instead of pooling. The lines are vacuumed and pressure tested before the system is charged.
Commissioning
Someone shows you the controller before they go, including the dry mode, which does a lot of the work in a climate this damp.
Which type of heat pump suits your home
An older weatherboard bungalow with a high stud and a wall of windows behaves nothing like a sealed open-plan build out at Bell Block, and there's a heat pump shape that suits each of them.
High-wall
Up near the ceiling, blowing out and down. The cheapest to buy and to fit, and what goes into most rooms here.
Floor console
Sits low on the wall and warms from the ground up. In a bungalow where the ceiling is high and the warm air pools above your head, it puts the heat where you actually are.
Ceiling cassette
Flush in the ceiling, blowing four ways. Handy in a large open room where a wall unit would look bulky, and it needs the space above the gib.
Multi-split
Several indoor heads off one outdoor unit, so you heat the lounge and a couple of bedrooms without bolting three outdoor boxes to the wall.
Ducted
Hidden in the roof space, feeding warm air through vents into each room. The most even heat of the lot and the dearest to fit, with nothing on show but the grilles.
What size heat pump do you need
Getting the size right matters more than the brand on the box or the number of kilowatts it advertises.
Bedroom or small room
About 2.5kW.
Living area
5 to 6kW.
Large or open-plan
7 to 8kW.
Go up a step for single glazing, a high stud, or an older weatherboard place.
Why an older bungalow needs more than its size suggests
The ceilings are high and the walls are frequently more window than wall, and each of those costs you. Warm air collects above head height where it does nobody any good, and the thermostat down at eye level never sees it. A single pane sheds heat about ten times faster than the timber around it, so on a cold night the room is losing warmth nearly as fast as a modest unit can supply it.
The newer builds out at Bell Block are the easier case. Fewer internal walls, better insulation, one connected space, so a single well-sized unit reaches the lot.
Why buying big backfires
An oversized unit reaches the set temperature quickly and then shuts off, and because it has barely run it hasn't pulled much moisture out of the air. In coastal Taranaki that's the difference between a room that feels warm and one that feels warm and still clammy. An undersized one has the opposite problem and simply never gets there on a cold morning.
Run your room through the sizing calculator for a starting figure, then let whoever quotes it measure the place properly.
Replacing an old heat pump
On this coast, the part that gives up is nearly always the outdoor unit.
The signs are gradual rather than dramatic: the room takes longer to warm than it used to, the outdoor fan runs more, the bill creeps. Once the metal on the outdoor unit has corroded away there's no service that brings the performance back.
A replacement often reuses what's already on the wall. Brackets, pipework and cable in sound condition and the right size can stay, which takes a real chunk off the price. Pipework carrying the residue of an older refrigerant can't, because leaving it in shortens the life of the new system.
It's also the cheapest chance you'll get to move the outdoor unit. If the last one went on the seaward wall because that was the short way through, shifting it round the house now costs a few hundred and saves an early replacement later.
Worth knowing up front: ask what the brackets are made of, not just the unit. Plenty of coastal replacements here are the second unit to rust off the same cheap mounts, and corrosion-resistant fittings are a small line on a quote next to doing the job twice.
Consent and electrical work
A standard high-wall or floor-mounted unit doesn't need building consent. The electrical and refrigerant work has to be done by qualified people, which is part of the install rather than something you arrange.
Larger ducted work, or anything that cuts into the structure, can need consent, and that usually sits under the consent a renovation already has.
Two things worth raising at the site visit: body corporate or cross-lease rules if you share a title, and a neighbour close to the boundary, since the outdoor unit hums and the position is easy to move on paper and awkward to move afterwards.
Looking after your heat pump
There's one job here that matters more than it does almost anywhere else, and it takes two minutes. Rinse the outdoor unit down with fresh water every few weeks through summer. It clears the salt off before it works into the metal, and it does more for how long the unit lasts than anything else you can do without a ladder.
Inside, pop the front open, slide the filters out and rinse them under the tap every few weeks while it's working hard. A blocked filter starves the unit of air, so it runs longer for less warmth and you pay the difference.
Keep the outdoor unit's back and sides clear as well. Boxing it in to hide it from the wind stops it shedding heat, which costs you more than the wind does.
Past that it's a job for someone with gauges: ice that won't clear, a breaker that trips, water dripping inside, air that never gets properly warm, or a new rattle. The annual service is when the charge and the electrics get checked properly.
Common questions about heat pump installation
How much does heat pump installation cost in New Plymouth?
Fitted, about $2,200 to $3,200 for a bedroom, $3,000 to $4,500 for a main living area and $4,000 to $6,000 for something large or open-plan. Multi-splits for a few rooms run $6,000 to $12,000 and ducted starts around $12,000. Inside those figures it comes down to the capacity the room needs, how far the pipework travels, and whether the outdoor unit wants coastal-grade fittings.
How long does the job take?
A straightforward single high-wall is three to five hours, so half a day. It runs longer if the indoor and outdoor units sit a long way apart or the pipework has to go through an awkward wall. Ducted and multi-split are booked as longer jobs.
Where should the outdoor unit go on a coastal property?
Out of the direct spray, so the sheltered side of the house rather than the exposed seaward wall. It still needs airflow around it, a spot up off the ground, and easy access so you can rinse it and someone can service it. Boxing it in to shelter it causes a worse problem than the wind does.
How far inland does the salt reach?
Further than most people expect, because the westerly crosses open ocean before it arrives and carries the salt inland with it. Fitzroy, Moturoa and the streets nearest the water get the worst of it, and Bell Block still gets a share.
Can you put a heat pump in an older single-glazed house?
Yes, and a lot of the work here is exactly that. Those rooms heat more slowly because the glazing and insulation let warmth out, so the unit is sized for that rather than for the floor area. Where the ceiling is high as well, a floor console often heats the room better than a high-wall for the same money.
Can I install one myself?
No. Refrigerant work needs an approved filler licence in New Zealand and the wiring has to be certified by a registered electrician, so a DIY install is illegal and voids the warranty. Clearing access and agreeing the position are yours.
Do I need consent?
Not for a standard high-wall or floor-mounted unit. Larger ducted work or anything structural can need one, and New Plymouth District Council is the authority on that. If you're in a body corporate or on a cross-lease, check the rules about outdoor units before booking.
What will it add to the power bill?
A right-sized unit warming a living room through a Taranaki winter usually adds somewhere between $25 and $60 a month, depending on the hours you run it and how much heat the house loses. You get three to four units of warmth for every unit of electricity, which no plug-in heater comes close to.
Get a price for your place
Send the room, your suburb and the age of the house. Your local installer will size it properly, site it for the coast, and give you a fixed price.