This was posted 1 year 5 months 7 days ago, and might be an out-dated deal.

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[Homeowners] Get up to 80% of the Total Cost for Insulation and/or an Approved Heater Covered @ EECA

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Most Cheapies probably already know about this deal. But worth a winter reminder in case you have moved or weren't aware of it

Also posting because they are adding LED light bulbs and heat pump water heaters to the scheme. I couldn't find much hard info on that yet. It was announced in the budget this year.

Basically if you have a Community Service Card or live in an area deemed low income you will be eligible for these grants.
I had my house insulated for free, and a heavily subsidised wood burner installed. There were no income checks or anything, I was eligible because of my location. It is worth a check (or a recheck) on the eeca website to see if your address is included. Don't forget to check your other family members and friends as well. I found my parents are also in an eligible area.


Checklist for an insulation grant

  • You own and live in a home built before 2008.
  • You (the owner) have a Community Services Card or live in an area identified as low-income (visit the application form to check your address)
  • Your home doesn't have ceiling and underfloor insulation. (If you had an insulation grant for a previous house, no worries, you can apply for a grant at your current home.)

Checklist for a heater grant

  • You own and live in a home built before 2008.
  • You (the owner) have a community services card or live in an area identified as low income.
  • You have ceiling and underfloor insulation installed to EECA standards. If your home has been insulated through a Government insulation programme, we'll confirm it when you apply for a heater grant. Otherwise an EECA insulation provider will do a quick check — at no cost to you.
  • Your home doesn't already have one of the following fixed heaters that is operational in any living area of the house: heat pump, wood or pellet burner, flued gas heater or central heating system. If your home has one of these heater types, it is not eligible for a heating grant.

What will I have to pay?
We’ve included the expected costs remaining after the grant funding below, but in many areas, community organisations offer extra funding to top up Warmer Kiwi Homes grants, which could mean you pay even less, or nothing at all. If this is available in your area, we’ll let you know when you apply.

Type Cost
Insulation In most situations, expect to pay between $280 and $800, depending on the size of the house and whether you need ceiling or underfloor insulation, or both.
Heat pump Expect the amount you need to pay to be $400-$700. This will depend on the size and brand of the heat pump. Heat pumps provide instant heat and |temperature control with a thermostat, and have low running costs if used properly. Your unit will be sized to heat the room it’s installed in, not the whole house.
Wood burner Expect the amount you pay to be $1000-$3000. The price will depend on the type of wood burner – some regions require ultra-low-emission burners, which are more expensive than low-emission burners. Wood burners require dry firewood stored in a sheltered space, ideally for at least 12 months, and have low running costs, even if you need to buy firewood.
Pellet burner Expect the amount you pay to be $1000-$3000. The price will depend on the type of pellet burner - some regions require ultra-low-emission burners, which are more expensive than low-emission burners. A pellet burner provides instant heat and temperature control with a thermostat. You will need to buy pellets and store them in a dry space.

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eeca.govt.nz
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closed Comments

  • +2

    Wood burners require dry firewood stored in a sheltered space, ideally for at least 12 months, and have low running costs, even if you need to buy firewood

    Not once you include the cost of your labour!

    • +5

      Not sure if serious comment haha but it definitely helps to enjoy this - stacking a firewood delivery is hard work but satisfying in an honest-day's-work kind of way, and the novelty of swinging an axe around and splitting the big bits still hasn't worn off, so the labour part is actually fun for me haha. Also nothing beats the warmth, smell and noise of a good fire crackling away on a cold night.

      • +1

        It was definitely tongue-in-cheek a bit… and yes, a heat-pump doesn't quite hit the same way. I have both but the log burner sits forlorn as the last thing I want to do between work and kids is get the fire going. Funnily enough, the feel of the fire roaring at the open house in the middle of winter was what sold us on the place originally!

        When I had more of my time, I definitely enjoyed the labour part a lot more!

    • +5

      A person who cuts their own wood heats themselves twice

    • tempted to check out Firestack who place it where you want and seems reasonable compared to most places around me

  • +1

    I live in a poor area close to WINZ houses, but I make over 6 figures income p.a. can I still apply? there is no income means tested right?

    • +1

      Correct!

  • I live in a 1950’s 3 bed house with an old wood burner as the only heating source. It smokes a ton and kids always jump the fence. With two young kids I don’t feel safe with this arrangement. Single glazed house makes it worse. Now I’m using portable heaters to keep everyone safe except my wallet. Last time I tried to get a heat pump but was shut down. Any suggestions please to get around this?

    • Our place has single glazing and an in wall wood burner and is around the same age.

      The previous owner did acrylic retro glazing (?) and it does make a bit of a difference.

      We actually put in wall insulation in at the front of the house, cut big horizontal cuts out of the wall and just pushed down insulation into each gap between each wooden sideways stud thing…. and then just put the bits we cut out back and plastered over. It's made a huge difference.

      We also run a dehumidifer very often

      • Can i get grant for wall insulation?
        Any idea for heat pump through eeca?

        • wall insulation didnt cost us more than $200, but that was for maybe 10m of wall incl .windows.

          We didnt get heatpump covered even though the fireplace barely helps with the rest of the house due to weird layout

          • @Grandma: I can assume our design is similarly weird to yours. House is cold even in day time.
            Not to mention retro wooden plank floor. Cold & cranky.

      • Retro double glazing quote was nearly $10k 😞

        • Oh shit, really? The guy did the rooms he used and they're big acrylic magnetic sheets around each window.

          They're awful and mean some windows cant open.

          Buuut we were quoted north of $40k for new windows a year or so ago including scaffolding

    • First priority is to bring heat loss to a minimum, so ceiling and floor insulation in that order if you haven't already, then thick curtains to stop the heat loss through windows and the draft if they are gappy. If it is easy enough, do in-wall insulation last. Check your eligibility to get a grant from EECA above for the insulation.

      Attack the single glazing if and when you feel like it if budget permits, but definitely prioritise the other types first. I am intending to replace some rotten wood windows with new double glazed aluminum units using the ANZ Good Energy loan https://www.anz.co.nz/personal/home-loans-mortgages/loan-typ…

      I have a 1930s bungalow and just the top and bottom insulation alone with a couple of heat pumps running keeps the house warm through the day. Heat pumps are spendy up front, but IMO they work best to keep the house at a constant temp rather than heating up from dead cold. They also run most efficiently when it is warmer outside so pumping the house full of heat during the day isn't actually that expensive.

  • +1

    Had someone turn up to my place a few months ago and usually i don't bother with these things but this time i thought i'd at least get a free quote. At the end of the visit we got a quote on just underfloor underlay as we already had a air con and it ended up just over $4k and our part was going to be $800 but then they said, we'll just wave that..so we got it all for free. Pays to at least take a chance on this.

  • I would not recommend Greenside if you apply through the EECA programme. The person who came to assess my house seemed more interested in sightseeing than actually conducting a thorough assessment or providing any useful feedback. Furthermore, they declined my application without giving any reason and did not communicate with me about it till I found out from another insulation company.
    It was also unnecessary for him to brag about having air conditioning in every room of his own house – what relevance does that have to my situation? my house still old and cold even during the day…

  • How much a Heat pump installation should cost , I had one fitted a few years ago for $550.
    This EECA approved supplier are charging $1100 , guess that is where they make the money, from both us and the GOVT

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