What To Consider When Buying A Heat Pump

You might own your own home and want to enhance its value with a top-of-the-line heat pump solution. Or perhaps you’re renting a tiny apartment and are only looking for a simple system for a couple of rooms.

If you’re in a freezing, cold climate you would need a reliable heating system. Or if you live where it’s can get quite humid, you may want to cool with humidity control as well.

To transform your home into a perfect retreat, with heat pump at its heart, here’s our checklist with the top 7 things to consider.

1. Your location
One of the main considerations is where you live. Not only does New Zealand have some of the coldest temperatures in the world, but also, some fairly warm and humid ones! At Daikin, we give you a wide range of heat pump solutions designed for your every home.

Even if temperatures rise over 30ºC, don’t sweat it! Our heat pump systems have advanced technology which helps to absorb heat from the inside air and dissipate it outside, leaving your home cooler.

Whereas if you’re in our southern regions, reverse cycle heat pumps can both heat and cool your home, even when temperatures fluctuate quickly. By absorbing heat from the outside air, they warm the air inside, which is a highly energy efficient way to go. Daikin heat pumps have an automatic defrost cycle too, so even when the mercury drops as low as minus -10ºC, you’ll stay warm and cosy.

2. Which type of system
Daikin offers you a huge choice of heat pump systems for every type of home. Because we’ve been providing air-conditioned comfort for New Zealanders over a number of years, we’re experts when it comes to helping you make the right choice.

For example, a Daikin Split System heat pump is ideal if you just want to condition one room or a specific area. Choose from attractive wall-mounted or compact floor standing units that either cool only or give you reverse cycle heating and cooling.

If you want to beat the heat in a number of rooms, a Daikin Multi-Split heat pump system gives you the flexibility to climate control each room individually. Using only a single outdoor unit, you can connect as many as 5 indoor units. Choose the perfect indoor unit to blend in unobtrusively with your home’s décor from our range of wall mounted, floor standing, bulkhead, cassettes and ceiling suspended units.

For the ultimate in discreet comfort throughout your entire home, a Daikin Ducted heat pump system features the latest technology for year-round enjoyment and whole house comfort. A ducted heat pump system consists of an indoor and outdoor unit and flexible ducting. The indoor unit is concealed out of sight in your ceiling or under the floor and the flexible ducting distributes conditioned air through air vents located throughout your home.

3. Power, size and style
You may think that all heat pumps are created equal, but there’s a huge difference in their size and power. The one that’s just right for you depends on how big or small your space is and the number of rooms you wish to condition and many other factors.

Choose a heat pump that’s appropriate for your room size and it will operate much more efficiently. If it’s oversized, it will waste energy, while an undersized model will strain to maintain its temperatures and wear out a lot sooner.

Before you choose your heat pump, here are some important things to consider which can be best determined by a heat pump expert such as a qualified Daikin Specialist Dealer.

• Room size-The size of your room or the area you wish to condition will be a key indicator for the capacity size and power you will need. The larger the area the higher the heat pump capacity required. Your heat pump expert will measure the floor area and height of the room to help determine the most suitable size heat pump for your home.
• Insulation- The better the insulation in the walls and ceiling of the room, the lower the heat pump capacity required.
• Window size- The size of your window and insulating properties of the glass will have a greater effect on the size of the heat pump than the walls and ceilings of the room. Having larger windows in a room may mean a larger capacity system is required because the room its less insulated.
• Aspect- Rooms that are facing east or west may need a different capacity heat pump compared to a north facing room. This is due to the influence of the sun.
• Climate- Homes built near the coast will require different capacity heat pump compared to inland suburbs or cities.

Along with size and power, it’s important to think about how your heat pump system will look inside your home. Will it match your décor and style? For example, with ducted heat pump, the indoor unit is concealed out of sight and only the controller, return air and discharge grilles are visible inside your home. It’s a discreet way to condition your entire home, without compromising its designer looks.

4. Energy efficiency
The easiest way to gauge your system’s energy efficiency is to check its energy star rating. This government initiative is designed to help you make an informed choice – the more stars there are, the more energy you’ll save and the less it will cost to run.

Split System heat pumps are the most energy efficient heat pumps you can buy. In fact, the most energy efficient Split System in New Zealand is the Daikin US7*, with a 7-star ‘super efficiency’ rating.

Reverse Cycle heat pumps have two kinds of star ratings – red to show how efficient it is when heating, and blue for cooling.

Other features can also help you save electricity. For example, Daikin Split Systems with the ‘Intelligent Eye’ feature, will reset to the most energy efficient level if a room is unoccupied for 20 minutes. They cleverly return to the original setting if someone re-enters the room, saving energy in the meantime.

All Daikin heat pumps not only meet the Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS), they exceed them. This means you can enjoy year-round comfort without worrying about overheated power bills.

* 2.5kw model, as at 22/10/14 - visit www.energyrating.gov.au for details.

5. Air quality
It’s important to choose a heat pump that will improve the quality of the air you breathe. Many Daikin heat pumps don’t just filter particles and dust, but also let you control humidity in the room. This helps prevent conditions associated with dry skin, throats and eyes and is ideal if you’re sleeping with the heat pump on.

If people in your family have asthma, hay fever or allergies, keep in mind that all Daikin Split Systems are approved by the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation NZ's Sensitive Choice® program and also carry its blue butterfly symbol.

Find out about the Sensitive Choice program.

6. Functions and features
Now it’s time for the fun part – choosing the heat pump features that make your life even easier and breezier.

Daikin heat pumps come with a huge variety of intelligent features to give you that extra level of comfort, economy and convenience. Here are just a few:

• Wi-Fi Smart Device Connectivity: You can set and schedule the temperature in your home from anywhere using your smartphone device. The Daikin D-Mobile app is free to download from the App store or Google Play. It’s perfect for coming home to a beautifully warm or cool home after you’ve been out and about.
• Presence Sensor: Our 2-Area Intelligent Eye infrared sensor directs air away from people in the room to prevent cold draughts and switches to energy efficient mode if people leave the room for more than 20 minutes.
• Comfort Mode and 3D Airflow: It’s easy to adjust the angle of cooling on your Daikin Split system and enjoy the vertical and horizontal auto-swing technology that circulates air to every corner of large spaces.
• Noise Reduction: Daikin’s exclusive compressor engineering and aero fan designs result in whisper-quiet operation, so you hardly even know the heat pump is on.
• Sleep Mode: This energy efficient feature gently adjusts the temperature to a comfortable level while you enjoy a blissful night’s sleep.

Note: Not all features are available on all Daikin models.

7. Your budget
A heat pump system can be a big investment in your home and price is something to consider.

Ask yourself how long you want to stay where you are. There’s no sense in installing a ducted system if you’re planning to relocate soon. Alternatively, it can be a great asset if you wish to enhance your lifestyle and add significant value.

Speak to a Daikin Specialist Dealer about the best solution to match your budget.

As you can see, it’s well worth thinking about all the ins and outs of buying a heat pump system before you make your final choice. We hope you’ve found our checklist has been a big help.