What Is Central Heating?

Central heating is the method of heating your entire home using a central heat source. A heat pump or boiler heats the water for hydronic heating, providing a simple, reliable and cost-effective way to keep your home warm during even the coldest nights of the year.

Why Choose Hydronic Central Heating?

We truly believe you can change your life through proper heating – we should know, it’s changed ours!

This warm water transfers heat evenly and gently around the home through a circuit of pipes. These can be pipes laid in the floor for underfloor heating that provides a nice warm touch to the floors you stand on every day. Or they can lead to radiators which become “heat emitters” that radiate heat in every room of your home.

Water transfers energy at a much higher rate than air, making hydronic central heating the most energy efficient heating system available thereby reducing your carbon footprint. Although the initial costs can be higher it is a much better investment long term.

Did you know New Zealand has some of the coldest homes in the world due to inefficient and ineffective heating? Most of our homes fall far short of world health organisation standards, which can lead to unhealthy living conditions and poor health. By installing a central heating system in your home, you will be able to eliminate this cause of poor health and enjoy warmth and comfort you’ve never experienced before.

Warmth Your Body Loves

We all know the feeling of sitting in the sun on a cold winter’s day and feeling warm. That’s radiant heat. With radiant heating in your home, your body will feel warmer as the predominant transfer of heat between the human body and the environment is actually radiant, not air based.

You Can Live in Total Comfort

Because a central heating system radiates heat from either the floor or radiators, this means that radiant energy and heat is continuously building throughout every corner of your house. Central heating not only keeps you warm but also warms up walls and furniture, which keep radiating heat, creating a comfortable and relaxing environment.

Calm Air, Not Warm Wind

Heat sources such as a heat pump in your living room and bedroom blow the hot air down, instead of radiating the heat evenly throughout the space. Not only does this mean certain areas of your home aren’t being heated as well as others, but you also feel the “wind” of the heat being blown – and this movement of air naturally makes us feel a bit colder. That’s why you feel cool when you sit in the shade of a tree with a breeze blowing on a hot sunny day.The best part? It’s totally silent – no noisy fans, motors whirring or systems loudly cycling on and off.

Healthier Than Other Heating Alternatives

People retrofitting older homes with radiators have really noticed how much drier their homes become, and any mould disappears. Dampness causes mould which can lead to health problems that range from manageable to deadly, especially when toxic mycotoxins are produced.
Problems linked to mould include issues relating to the liver, central nervous system, gastrointestinal problems, concentration issues, learning difficulties, memory loss, depression, heart problems cancer, multiple sclerosis and particularly respiratory health.
Children, the elderly, and people who already have respiratory diseases like asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, cardiovascular disease or those struggling with an already weakened immune system are at the greatest risk of illness due to poor air quality in the home. That is why hydronic heating is recommended for asthma and allergy sufferers.
In a new home with underfloor radiant central heating, every corner and crevice of your home is heated and kept dry, including wardrobes, behind your bed, laundries and bathrooms, preventing mould build-up in the first place.
Hydronic heating doesn’t blow allergens and contaminants like dust mites around your house or allow them to lurk in ductwork that becomes dusty and dirty over time.
This risk is completely eliminated with a hydronic system. Hydronic central heating heats naturally, keeping your air and home clean and protecting your family’s health.

What Are The Advantages Of Central Heating?

Effortless

24 hours a day, 7 days of the week, fully automated temperature control keeps your home warm and comfortable, without lifting a finger. Once programmed, it will maintain any desired temperature for different times of the day 7 days of the week.

This means you wake up to a beautifully warm home every morning. Your hydronic heating system has already silently switched on and brought it up from the lower overnight temperature.
Smart thermostats take this to another level again where you can even adjust the program from your bed or when you are away on vacation.

Versatile

Hydronic central heating can be zoned to heat as many areas of your house separately as you like. Set them at different temperature levels, to come on and off at different times. Each radiator has an individual control dial, as well.

You can even have it in your garage – when your car comes in from the wet and cold, the floor will dry out quickly and not have puddles lying around. Those who work on cars often install central heating so they have a lovely warm floor to lie on. Perfect for industrial workshops for this reason too.

Efficient, Effective and Economical

With hydronic radiant heating being low in the room at human level and a much more effective form of heat, the system can often be run at a lower temperature. This means greater economy while significantly enhancing personal comfort.

Did you know that water transfers energy at 4 times the rate of air? This makes warm water central heating systems much more cost-efficient than warm air systems by an estimated 35%.

When you use an air to water heat pump as a heat source the efficiencies and cost benefits are multiplied yet again! Air to water heat pumps combine free energy from the air to give you approximately 4 Kw of energy from every 1Kw from the grid or solar panels.

Unlimited Style

There is a hydronic central heating solution for all building types from heritage homes to cutting edge architectural, residential and commercial.For example; hydronic underfloor heating is perfect for hard-to-heat buildings with raked ceilings, because this provides the most heat right where you need it instead of wasted high above.
It is also the preferred solution of those who feel perfection is in the beauty of their architecture and furnishings and want no heating units on the wall, no ducts, vents or messy ashes to intrude.
Underfloor heating is completely invisible, you cannot get a less intrusive heating system. It also opens up the possibility of using more natural flooring choices like polished concrete, stone tile and wood, knowing they will not be too cold to walk on.Others prefer radiators, and with those, there is a huge range to choose from. Beautiful traditional radiators can become a show piece in your home, and high-end modern homes can have individual works of art as radiators. Modern flat panel, vertical lined radiators are a popular choice in homes with lots of glass. Classic panel radiators fit into homes of any age or style.

Sustainable

Warm water (hydronic) central heating systems have become increasingly popular among families wanting to decrease their environmental impact by making smart, green building choices.Whatever energy source you choose, the emissions are overall much lower using a hydronic heating solution. Underfloor heating has zero emissions and much lower operating temperatures than other heating systems making it a natural choice for use with PV solar panels, heat pumps and emerging renewable technologies.
Off grid homes can be heated using wood boilers. There are solutions that partner different energy sources as the demand for heat varies as well as heating domestic hot water.Another sustainable advantage of hydronic central heating is that it will last the life of the building. Once your plumber has installed it, there is very little maintenance required, it has proven itself over many years already in Europe.There is also the ability to update the heat source as technology advances. Already there has been a boiler developed that runs on hydrogen, although this option is not yet commercially viable. Research into renewable options is ongoing.Costs of installing zero emission, zero running cost options are decreasing as they become more developed and widely used.

How Central Heating Works

A heat pump or boiler heats the water which is then transferred around the home through a circuit of pipes. These can be pipes laid in the floor for underfloor heating that provides a nice warm touch to the floors you stand on every day. Or they can lead to radiators which become “heat emitters” that radiate heat in every room of your home.

Heat Source

Highly energy-efficient, low emissions boilers or heat pumps that are centrally located in a garage or externally are the heat sources that power your central heating system. Belle Comfort Solutions stocks a wide range of superior quality options to suit your location and preference.

Distribution and Emitters

Insulated pipes distribute warm water to the underfloor circuits or radiators that emit their heat and then it goes back to the heat source to be heated again.

Underfloor heating provides continual comfort, keeping your feet luxuriously warm, your head at a comfortable temperature and the coolest, not hottest temperatures at ceiling level.

Radiators

Radiators are ideal for existing homes as you can simply choose your radiators and a week after starting, your installer can have your system up and running, transforming your home and your life this winter. They also heat up quickly and some new home owners prefer this ability as well as their aesthetics. A good option for the second story of a new home, too.

Towel Rails

When used with a hydronic system, elegance and efficiency are guaranteed. Integrating these in your bathrooms and wherever you hang towels will keep your towels feeling luxuriously warm and dry.

Domestic Hot Water

Central heating solutions can also heat your domestic hot water requirements from the same system. This utilises one heat source and more economic fuel to ensure you always have hot water when needed for showers and washing.

Plan for hydronic heating for your home and hot water needs.

Imagine stepping out from your bath onto a lovely warm tiled floor heated with warm water from your hydronic system. Luxurious living and economic running at its best.

Controls

From 7 day fully programmable automated systems to simple dial thermostats, the controls that are available with hydronic central heating set it apart.

You can have whole house control, zoned areas as well as room by room control. Smart controls using an app on your smartphone monitor the heating and hot water in your home from anywhere in the world. These allow you to keep your home feeling warm and comfortable while ensuring you only use what energy you need. Intelligent controls can also tell when you are home or approaching your home, another energy and carbon saving smart benefit.

“Investing in good quality, energy efficient hydronic heating for our older-style home was the best decision we ever made. We love waking up and coming home to a warm, toasty house, with no cold spots, no condensation and no dampness. It’s been life-changing for our family.”

Home Owner

HAVELOCK NORTH