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September 15, 2026

Are heat pumps worth it in NZ?

By Jordan Statham, Director and Registered Electrical Inspector at The Conduction Company. EWRB registration I272615.

BRANZ found more households said their bill rose after a heat pump than fell. Here is what actually decides it, with real Auckland install prices.

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A lot of New Zealanders have put in a heat pump and then watched their power bill go up. That is not a rumour from an internet forum, it is what the research found, and it is the honest place to start. The Conduction Company installs and services heat pumps across Auckland, and this guide covers the things that actually decide the answer: sizing, placement, insulation, and what the job really costs.

A heat pump is worth it in New Zealand when it is sized for the room, fitted in a room you use every day, and installed in a house that holds heat. The Conduction Company finds these three things decide whether your bill falls, not the brand on the wall. Get one wrong and the payback never arrives.

Why do some power bills go up after a heat pump?

BRANZ studied 160 households with heat pumps. More people said their energy costs had increased since getting one than said their costs had fallen, and only 15% described the running costs as excellent. The reason is not that the machines are bad. It is that people heat more of the house, for longer, because now they comfortably can.

The same study found something The Conduction Company sees on Auckland jobs constantly: half the households that averaged less than 18 degrees on winter evenings had no insulation or poor insulation. Both findings are in BRANZ Study Report 329, summarised on the BRANZ Level website.

Jordan Statham, who owns The Conduction Company and has held New Zealand electrician registration since 2014 and electrical inspector registration since 2017, puts the same thing in plainer terms: "Homes with a large amount of single-glazed windows or a lack of insulation are always the hardest to heat. The heat isn't being retained in the room, and it's actively being pulled out through the flooring, windows, and the ceiling."

Older Auckland homes are the usual offenders, along with houses where the ceiling insulation has shrunk or compressed over the years. The Conduction Company checks insulation levels before installing a heat pump, and on a lot of jobs fits ceiling and underfloor insulation at the same time as the heat pump, so clients are not paying to heat a house that leaks it straight back out. A modern home that is sealed, double glazed, and fully insulated is easy to heat and gets the result people expect.

What does a heat pump cost to install in Auckland?

The estimates below are for standard supply and installation of a heat pump. The Conduction Company confirms final pricing after a property assessment.

RoomUnit sizeThe Conduction Company's price, supply and install, including GST
Small room or bedroom2.0 to 2.5 kW$2,200 to $3,000
Big bedroom or small lounge3.3 to 4.2 kW$2,800 to $3,600
Average lounge5.0 kW$2,700 to $5,000
Larger lounge6.0 to 6.3 kW$3,300 to $5,400
Large open-plan lounge and kitchen7.1 to 8.0 kW$4,100 to $5,100

Those figures are supply and install. They cover the machine and the work, not just the labour. Anything larger than 8 kW, and any ducted system, The Conduction Company prices individually because the run lengths and the roof space change the job too much for a useful range.

Two things move these numbers. The first is the brand and spec you pick, which is covered further down. The second is the promotion. Manufacturers run heat pump promotions often, and most of the quotes behind the table above had one on at the time. They are not permanent, and there are stretches with none at all. The prices above assume a promotion is running, so ask what is on when you enquire.

One number online is worth explaining, because it looks like it contradicts the table. Genesis Energy's heat pump article quotes $750 to $1,350 including GST for an install, citing Consumer NZ.

That is a national figure for installation labour only, and it does not include the heat pump itself. It is not a supply and install price, so do not compare it with one.

We quote on facts, not guesses
Before we give you a price, we carry out a proper assessment of your property and how you'll use your heating.
That way you know exactly what you're buying and the total cost, with no surprises.
Clear expectations from the outset, start to finish.

The Conduction Company covers both halves of a heat pump job in house, the electrical work and the refrigerant work, and you can see the full scope on its heat pump supply, installation and servicing page.

What size heat pump do I need?

The Conduction Company's rule of thumb is 150 watts per square metre of floor area. That is for a standard home with a standard number of windows and a standard 2.4 metre ceiling height. So a 30 square metre lounge needs roughly 4.5 kW of heating, which puts you on a 5 kW unit.

It is quick maths and it is close enough to sanity check a quote you have been given. It is not a substitute for someone assessing the space, because glazing, ceiling height, insulation, construction type, and how open the space is all pull the number around.

Undersizing is the expensive mistake, and it is usually sold as the cheap option.

A unit that is too small for the space never gets it up to temperature.

Jordan Statham: "For a smaller unit to heat a particular space it needs to run harder and longer to bring that space up to temperature. Especially for a really small unit, it could run continuously for hours trying to heat that space up but never get to that point." That is the mechanism behind those BRANZ bills going up, and it wears the machine out early as well.

Which heat pump brand is best in NZ?

There is no single best brand. There is a best brand for what the property is doing, and The Conduction Company splits it three ways.

Investment properties: Haier and Toshiba. Good quality, cost effective, and they do the job a rental needs, which is to turn on and heat the room. The Conduction Company gets good supplier support on both and sees a low rate of warranty claims. There is no point over capitalising on a rental.

Mid-range: Panasonic and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Better efficiency, quieter, more features. If you are near the coast, The Conduction Company will steer you towards a brand with a heavier coating on the external fins, because salt air corrodes them.

Owner-occupied homes: Fujitsu. For the last two years this has been The Conduction Company's pick on value. Low warranty claims, genuinely good units, and their sales and promotions can bring the price down a long way. The Conduction Company no longer fits Mitsubishi Electric.

Landlords, one warning. Buying the absolute cheapest unit is never the cheapest outcome. The Conduction Company's experience is that a bottom-of-the-market unit brings callbacks, faults, and tenant complaints, and every one of those puts a tradesperson back on site at your cost. The sensible spot is near the bottom of the market but not at it.

Price also buys things you feel every day. Better units draw less power for the same heat output, run quieter, which matters a lot in a bedroom, and usually come with wifi control.

Ducted or multi-split, which is better?

This is the most common wrong assumption The Conduction Company deals with. People arrive certain that ducted is the premium answer and will be cheaper to heat the whole house. Ducted is the most deluxe option, no argument, but it has real drawbacks that nobody mentions at the showroom.

A ducted system is one central unit feeding several rooms. Close the bedroom doors and airflow gets restricted, which gives you uneven temperatures. Worse, a ducted system without zone control heats the entire house. In winter you are usually in the living areas until everyone goes to bed, so you are paying to heat bedrooms nobody is in, then paying to heat a lounge nobody is in.

What you are comparingDucted, no zone controlMulti-split high wall, as The Conduction Company fits them
Temperature controlOne setting for the whole houseEach room set to whatever the person in it wants
Rooms nobody is usingHeated anywaySwitched off
Closed bedroom doorsRestricted airflow, uneven temperaturesNo effect, each room has its own unit
Running cost over timeHigher, you heat more space than you occupyLower, you heat one room at a time
Install costHighest of the optionsTypically significantly lower
How it looksVents in the ceiling, nothing on the wallA unit on the wall in each room, and this is the real downside
The fix, if you want ductedZone control, or two separate systems, one for bedrooms and one for livingNot needed, zoning is built into the design

After that explanation, a lot of The Conduction Company's clients choose multi-split. It costs less to install, it costs less to run, and each person gets their own bedroom at their own temperature. One sleeper likes it cool, another likes it warm, and both get what they want. The only genuine cost is the look. If you cannot live with looking at a unit on your wall, ducted with zone control is the honest answer, and it will cost more both to install and to run.

How long does a heat pump last?

The Conduction Company has seen units run up to 20 years with regular servicing. Warranties are typically five to six years. A realistic expectation is 10 to 12 years, and how you get to the top of that range comes down to two things.

The first is sizing, covered above. A correctly sized or slightly oversized unit brings the room up to temperature, then stops and rests. That longer duty cycle is what makes a unit last. A unit that runs flat out and never gets there is grinding its internal components the whole time.

The second is airflow. Blocked filters and blocked fins force the indoor fan and the outdoor compressor to work harder for less result. That is wear you are paying for twice, once in power and once in a shorter life.

What servicing does a heat pump actually need?

Filters are yours. The Conduction Company recommends cleaning them every month if you can fold it into your normal cleaning, and at an absolute minimum at every change of season. Units move a lot of air, so dusty air, a full house, or pets will clog them fast, and a clogged filter hits efficiency immediately. It is a five minute job you can do yourself, and this video walks through it.

The fins, the indoor unit, and the outdoor unit are a professional job, once a year. The Conduction Company alternates two types of service. The first year after installation is a basic service: a clean out, filters swept, condensate drain checked, and confirmation that it is working properly. The next year is a comprehensive service, including refrigerant pressures and thorough checks inside the unit. Then it alternates, basic, comprehensive, basic, for the life of the machine. You can book either through The Conduction Company's electrical maintenance and servicing team.

When should you not install a heat pump?

Rooms you barely use. This is the advice The Conduction Company gives most often and the one clients least expect to hear from an installer.

Jordan Statham: "We had a client recently who had a dedicated sewing room, and she would only use it for perhaps 1 hour every other day. The payback period for that particular installation would be decades."

For a room like that, a panel heater on the wall costs a fraction of the price and does the job perfectly. The power bill is slightly higher and it does not matter, because you are only running it a few hours a week. Spend the money where you actually sit.

The other case is a house where heating is not really the problem. If your issue is damp air, condensation on the windows, and mould rather than temperature, a heat pump can be the wrong purchase.

The Conduction Company has written a full comparison of whether to install a heat pump or a ventilation system, and it also installs home ventilation systems when that turns out to be the better fit.

What is the cheapest way to heat a house?

It depends on which cost you mean, and the two answers are different.

Cheapest to buy is a panel heater. Cheapest to run, by a wide margin, is a heat pump, because it transfers heat rather than making it. Jordan Statham's figure is that in some cases a heat pump uses about a quarter of the power input for the equivalent heat output. Worth knowing: BRANZ's Level guidance notes that measured performance in real homes runs lower than the laboratory rating, so treat the best-case number as a ceiling rather than a promise.

That is why The Conduction Company's advice tracks how long you are staying. If you plan to be in the house more than about five years, a heat pump is the best long-term heating solution and the running cost savings have time to repay the install. If you are selling next year, or the room barely gets used, the maths does not work and a cheaper heater is the practical call.

Is there anything specific to Auckland?

Auckland has a fairly mild temperature range, unlike Invercargill, for example, where ultra-cold temperatures would be a factor The Conduction Company would need to consider. Most air conditioners on the market will function well in Auckland conditions.

The purchasing decision comes down to your budget and how long you expect to be in the home, weighed against the savings over time.

The two Auckland details worth naming are coastal corrosion, which changes the brand recommendation above, and the age of the housing stock, which changes the insulation conversation.

What happens on installation day?

A standard back-to-back high wall install takes The Conduction Company about four hours. Drop sheets go down first, and dust gets vacuumed as the hole is drilled, so the mess stays contained. There is some noise during drilling and not much otherwise. Power may need to go off for 15 minutes to half an hour to make the final connection at the switchboard.

The indoor unit is mounted and the wall penetration made, then most of the work happens outside: fitting the outdoor unit, running its power, flushing the lines, and checking pressures. Then it is tested on both heating and cooling, and the site is cleaned up properly before the team leaves.

The paperwork you should receive

Connecting a heat pump to your home's wiring is electrical work, and it produces a document you are entitled to. The Electricity (Safety) Regulations 2010 require that a certificate of compliance "must be issued in accordance with these regulations for all general and high-risk prescribed electrical work" (regulation 65(1)), and that a copy goes "to the person who contracted for the work" within 20 days of the work being completed (regulation 74E(2)).

The Conduction Company issues a certificate of compliance for the electrical work on every heat pump it installs, and sends the client their copy.

The refrigerant side is licensed separately, and The Conduction Company has that licence in-house. Director Jordan Statham holds a Refrigerant License New Zealand, category Approved Filler, so both halves of the job are done by TCCO's own people rather than subcontracted out.

The mistake nearly everyone makes once it is installed

Setting the temperature far higher than you want the room, to make it heat up faster. The Conduction Company sees this constantly and it is a completely natural thing to assume. It does not work. Set it to the temperature you actually want and the unit will get there as fast as it can. All a higher setting does is overshoot and cook the room once it passes your comfortable point.

So, are they worth it?

For most Auckland homes that people are staying in, yes, as long as the unit is sized for the room, put where you live, and installed in a house that holds its heat. Where those conditions are not met, The Conduction Company will tell you so, and sometimes the answer is a panel heater, ventilation, or insulation first.

If you want a straight answer for your own house, The Conduction Company is happy to come out, look at the rooms, the glazing, and the insulation, and put a fixed price in front of you. No pressure either way.

Frequently asked questions

Are heat pumps worth it in NZ?

Yes, when the unit is sized for the room, fitted in a room you use every day, and installed in a house that holds heat. The Conduction Company finds those three things decide whether your power bill falls. BRANZ surveyed 160 households and more said their energy costs had risen after installing a heat pump than said they had fallen, which is usually a sizing or insulation problem rather than a fault with the machine.

How much does it cost to install a heat pump in New Zealand?

The Conduction Company's supply and install prices in Auckland run from $2,200 to $3,000 including GST for a small room or bedroom unit, $2,700 to $5,000 including GST for an average lounge, and $4,100 to $5,100 including GST for a large open-plan lounge and kitchen. Those figures assume a manufacturer promotion is running, which is common but not constant. Ducted systems and anything above 8 kW are priced individually.

What is the main disadvantage of a heat pump?

The upfront cost, and for some people the look of a unit on the wall. The Conduction Company's view is that the bigger practical risk is buying one that is too small for the room, because an undersized unit runs continuously, never reaches temperature, and strains its internal components.

Which heat pump brand is best in NZ?

It depends on the property. The Conduction Company fits Haier and Toshiba in investment properties, Panasonic and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries as mid-range options, and Fujitsu in owner-occupied homes, which has been its value pick for the last two years. Near the coast it recommends brands with a heavier coating on the external fins to resist corrosion.

How often should a heat pump be serviced?

Clean the filters yourself every month if you can, and at minimum at every change of season. The Conduction Company recommends a professional service once a year, alternating a basic clean with a comprehensive service that checks refrigerant pressures.

Is there an Auckland-specific reason to install a heat pump or skip one?

No. The Conduction Company's answer is that it comes down to your budget and how long you plan to stay in the home. The two local details that do matter are coastal salt air, which changes the brand recommendation, and older housing stock, where insulation needs sorting before a heat pump will perform.

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