Central Heating Wellington

Hydronic heating warms a house by circulating hot water from a boiler or heat pump through a sealed loop of pipes to radiators on the walls or pipework in the floor. The heat comes off quietly and evenly, with no fan stirring up dust, and each room can be held at its own temperature.

We design and install new hydronic systems, service and repair existing gas boilers, and add radiators or underfloor zones to systems already in place, across Wellington, the Hutt Valley, Porirua and the Kāpiti Coast. The plumbing, gasfitting and commissioning are done by our own licensed team, with a Gas Certificate of Compliance for any gas 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 Wellington

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

Why it suits Wellington houses

Wellington's weather is defined by wind. NIWA records gusts over 63 km/h at Wellington Airport on about 166 days a year, and gales are most frequent in winter. Wind pulls heat out of draughty older houses fast, and a heater that warms one room leaves cold hallways and bedrooms behind. A hydronic system puts gentle heat in every room and keeps it there.

Many of the city's older homes are villas and workers' cottages on narrow hill sections, in suburbs such as Mt Victoria, Newtown, Thorndon and Aro Valley. Most sit on timber piles with a subfloor you can get under, which makes running flow and return pipes to a radiator in each room a practical retrofit, especially while floors are open for insulation.

Radiators, underfloor or both

Panel radiators hold relatively little water, so they heat up and cool down quickly. That suits rooms used at set times and days when the weather turns quickly, and they are the easier choice to retrofit because pipes can run through a subfloor or ceiling with little disruption.

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

How It Works

Choosing the heat source

Powerco's natural gas network covers Wellington, the Hutt Valley and Porirua, and where gas is in the street a gas boiler is the usual choice for radiator systems because it runs comfortably at the higher water temperatures radiators like. On the Kāpiti Coast, which is not in Powerco's listed gas areas, a boiler can run on LPG, though bottle size and deliveries need planning. If the house needs a bigger gas supply, our gas fitting team sizes and runs it.

Air-to-water heat pumps heat the water with electricity instead of burning gas. They are most efficient at lower water temperatures, so they pair naturally with underfloor heating and with radiators sized generously for each room. If you are weighing gas against a heat pump, we price both so you can compare installation and running costs for your house.

Boiler servicing and common faults

A gas 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, the pump, the expansion vessel and system pressure. On exposed hillside and coastal sites we also look at the flue terminal and outdoor pipework, which take a beating from wind and salt. Faults we are called out for include:

• Pressure gauge dropping 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

Bleeding radiators and losing pressure

Bleeding a radiator lets trapped air out through a small valve at the top. Most owners can do it safely with the system off and cool, but it also drops a little pressure, so you may need to top the system up at the filling loop afterwards. Boiler maker Ideal Heating gives 1 to 1.5 bar as a typical cold pressure, but always follow your own boiler's manual.

If you keep having to top it up, water is escaping somewhere: a weeping radiator valve, a leak under the floor, a failed expansion vessel or a passing relief valve. That needs finding rather than repeated refilling, because fresh water brings oxygen that corrodes the system. Our leak detection gear traces leaks under floors without lifting more than necessary.

New builds and what affects the cost

In a new build or extension, underfloor heating must be decided before the slab is poured, along with the manifold position, slab insulation and boiler or heat pump location. We work from plans with your builder and designer and fit it around the rest of the new build plumbing.

Every system is designed for the house, so the quote is free after a site visit and heat loss check. The main cost factors are the number of rooms and radiators, radiators or underfloor, gas boiler or heat pump, access under floors and in ceilings on sloping sites, whether the gas supply needs upgrading, the zoning and controls you want, and how much existing pipework can be reused.

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