Choosing heating
What size heater do I need?
Heaters should be sized to maintain a comfortable temperature in a room on an average cold day in winter. This 'heat load' is determined by room dimensions, insulation levels, window areas and covering, indoor and outdoor temperatures.
You can use the following table as a guide, but the size of your system should be determined by your supplier, particularly when sizing central heating systems.
| Home | Heater output required per m2 of floor area* |
| Uninsulated home | 130 watts/m2 |
| Insulated ceiling and walls | 100 watts/m2 |
| Energy efficient home | 70-80 watts/m2 |
* figures will be greater for electric storage heaters and for rooms with ceilings higher than 2.4m
What type of heating should I choose?
Firstly it is important to establish which areas of your home you need to heat, how large the areas are, and how long you need to heat the areas for.
Central heating systems are large heaters capable of heating most of your home at the one time. To help control your heating and reduce running costs, all central heating systems should be zoned. They can also be supplemented by installing a high efficiency space heater in the main living area, to be used when whole house heating is not required.
Space heaters are designed to heat a zone, rather than a whole home. Installing individual space heaters in different zones of a home according to your needs gives you greater heating flexibility. In general terms, space heating is more economical to run than central heating, essentially because of the smaller area heated.
If you need to heat:
| Only living zones | Use one or more high efficiency space heaters |
Living areas for long periods, sleeping | Use high efficiency space heaters for living zones and electric "spot" heaters for sleeping areas, or a zoned central heating system |
| Living and sleeping areas for long periods but at different times of the day | Use a zoned central heating system |
| Living and sleeping areas both for long periods at the same time | Use a zoned central heating system |
| Bathrooms/ensuites | Use radiant heathers eg. strip heaters, infra-red lamps |
Types of central heating systems
The most economical and energy efficient central heating systems are:
- zoned, high efficiency, natural gas ducted heaters
- zoned, natural gas, wood or solar hydronic systems
When choosing a gas systems or reverse air conditioners, look for the energy rating label (the more stars you see, the better the performance and the more money you'll save on your energy bill)
The table below compares various central heating systems:
| System type | Description | Running cost | Greenhouse gas emissions |
| Hydronic zoned with wood/solar heat source | Water is heated in a boiler (fuelled by wood or solar heat) circulated to radiator panels that heat a room. | low | very low |
| High efficiency ducted natural gas | Circulates warm air around the home | low | low |
| Hydronic zoned natural gas or heat pump | Water is heated in a boiler (fuelled by natural gas, LPG, or off-peak 2 tariff electricity) and circulated to radiator panels that heat the room | low | low |
| Ducted reverse cycle heat pump | Circulates warm or cool air around the home | medium | medium |
| In-slab high off-peak electric | A concrete slab is heated by internal electric cables (or hot water pipes) | medium | high |
(adapted from yourhome.gov.au)
Heating accessories
To improve the efficiency and performance of your heating system, you might want to consider installing one or more of the following accessories:
- Ceiling fans - reverse the direction of your ceiling fan to push warm air down from the ceiling back into the room
- Heat shifters - a simple ducted system using a fan to move warm air. Useful for moving heated air that has collected in an upstairs area down to the ground floor, or for taking residual heat from a living area to bedrooms when retiring at night.
- Programmable timers - devices which automatically turn heaters on and off at pre-selected times. Useful to pre-heat rooms in the morning or evening, to avoid running the heater continuously.