Latest news with #heating
RNZ News
4 days ago
- General
- RNZ News
What's the cheapest way to heat your home?
The cost of heating your home makes up about a third of what you pay for power each month. Photo: 123RF If you're spending your evenings in front of a heater, you might be keeping a wary eye on your power bill. The cost of heating your home makes up about a third of what you pay for power each month. But what's the cheapest way to do it? Here's an overview of how the various options compare. They can have a high upfront cost, but Energy Efficiency & Conservation Authority lead adviser on energy efficient appliances Gareth Gretton said heat pumps were "by far and away" the most efficient form of heating. Depending on how much you're charged for electricity, it might cost you about 25 cents to 35c an hour to run your heat pump, for every kilowatt hour (kWh) of heat produced. A 6kw heat pump would cost $1.50 if you're paying 25c per kWh. Consumer estimates that a very large heat pump might cost $1000 a year but a small one could be less than $200. But they will deliver much more heat for that cost than a standard electric heater of the same size. "I think most people know now they're really magic at transforming electricity into heat. They take heat from outdoors and effectively put it indoors, they sort of upgrade the heat that exists outdoors, even when it's below 0°C, and turn it into useful, comfortable heat indoors," Gretton said. He said, for every unit of electricity that a heat pump used, it would give three or four units of heat. "There's literally nothing else that can provide that efficiency other than a heat pump." He said New Zealand was unusual in that its houses tended to be relatively badly insulated. "Heat pumps do get a little bit less efficient when you have colder temperatures outside but it's not a huge problem because in New Zealand what we end up doing is quite a lot of heating when it's not cold outside by international standards … say 5°C to 10. Heat pumps are really efficient in that sort of temperature range." Consumer recommends running a heat pump no higher than 21°C and turning the fan up rather than the temperature if you want to heat a room quickly. Healthy Homes standards don't require landlords to install a heat pump in rental properties, although many have. They are only required to provide a fixed, safe and efficient heating source for the main living room. Whether it's better to leave your heat pump on all the time or turn it off when it's not needed is a subject of debate. Some people argue it costs more to warm up a room than if it was kept at temperature all day. But James le Page, who has looked into the issue for Consumer, said turning it off made more sense. "For the few people who have a house that is super airtight - so with no gaps around doors and windows, insulation above building code requirements, double glazing, thermal drapes and a ventilation system - they might be able to leave their heat pump on all day every day," he said. "But for most of us in New Zealand, if we leave it on, we'll be wasting a lot of energy on heat that will continuously leak out, as our heat pump works hard to maintain the set temperature." In general, electric heaters all cost the same to run, for the amount of heat they produce. "Any form of resistance electric heating - what I mean by that is where you pass electricity through a plug-in heater and what it's doing is the device is resisting the flow of electricity - will transform electricity into heat with a ratio of one to one," Gretton said. "There's ultimately no difference in the electricity to heat conversion efficiency of any type of electric resistance heater, they're all the same." But he said they could vary in effectiveness. Radiant heat could be good for a large area or a room with high ceilings, for example. "If you're within the range of the heater, you're kind of feeling that heat and you can be a little bit more comfortable at a slightly lower air temperature. It's a bit like the campfire effect. If you're outside and it's pretty cold but you're near a campfire which is tremendously hot then you feel that heat." Consumer said portable fan heaters were good option in small or occasionally used rooms, such as offices or bedrooms, even though they were relatively expensive to run. "But, with a maximum heat output of 2400W, they don't have the power to tackle anything beyond very small living areas." A 2kW heater running for five hours a day would typically cost about $2.50 a day while a 1200kW radiant heater with three bars could cost $1.50. In general, electric heaters all cost the same to run, for the amount of heat they produce. Photo: 123RF You might use a dehumidifier to take the moisture out of a room, but it could also increase the temperature by a few degrees, which might be sufficient if it's a room you're only going to sleep in. "You can sort of regard a dehumidifier as being a plug-in electric heater with the advantage that it will also make your house drier," Gretton said. "It's a bit of a win-win because all the electricity that goes into your dehumidifier will actually be helping to heat your house. They're a good thing in that sense." A compressor dehumidifier, which is the most common type in New Zealand, costs about 5c an hour to run. Gretton said gas heating was not an effective option. He said people should steer well clear of unflued gas hearers anyway, because they made a house damp and emitted gases such as nitrogen oxide. "There's an absolute mountain of good reasons why unflued gas heaters are a bad idea. With flued gas heaters, there's no direct health impact but you do have a bit of an efficiency loss so you're not going to be getting one unit of heat for every unit of gas you're burning." Gretton said wood burners tended to be less efficient than gas heaters. "It's quite tricky to burn wood both cleanly and efficiently. There's a trade-off between making wood burners efficient and making them clean burning in the sense of lower particulate emissions. "I think a lot of people assume that wood burners are really cost effective to run, but it really depends on how much you're paying for firewood. Now, for those people that do have free firewood, that's obviously pretty hard to compete with in terms of cost to run because it's basically zero other than the amount of time you'll spend cutting and chopping wood. "But if you're buying firewood, then it's not particularly cost effective, although it does vary around the country." He said, at a rough average national rate, it was still usually more expensive than a heat pump. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
CTV News
5 days ago
- General
- CTV News
N.S. prioritizing lumber in public buildings
Atlantic Watch Nova Scotia plans to use more wood to build and heat public buildings.
National Post
7 days ago
- Business
- National Post
Watts Water Technologies, Inc. Announces Second Quarter 2025 Earnings Release and Earnings Conference Call
Article content NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. — Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: WTS) will hold a live webcast of its conference call to discuss Second Quarter 2025 results on Thursday, August 7, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will announce its financial results for this period in a press release to be issued after market close on Wednesday, August 6, 2025. Article content This call can be accessed by visiting the Investor Relations section of the Company's website at Following the webcast, an archived version of the call will be available at the same address until August 6, 2026. Article content Article content Watts Water Technologies, Inc., through its family of companies, is a global manufacturer headquartered in the USA that provides one of the broadest plumbing, heating, and water quality product lines in the world. Watts Water companies and brands offer innovative plumbing, heating, and water quality solutions to control the efficiency, safety, and quality of water within commercial, residential, and industrial applications. For more information visit Article content Article content Article content Article content Contacts Article content Article content Article content
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
What to Expect From Trane Technologies' Next Quarterly Earnings Report
Swords, Ireland-based Trane Technologies plc (TT) designs, manufactures, sells, and services solutions for heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and custom and transport refrigeration. With a market cap of $97.6 billion, the company is poised to announce its fiscal Q2 earnings results on Thursday, July 30, before the market opens. Ahead of this event, analysts expect the company to report a profit of $3.76 per share, up 13.9% from $3.30 per share in the year-ago quarter. The company has surpassed Wall Street's bottom-line estimates in each of the past four quarters. Shopify Stock is a Bargain - How to Make a 3.2% One-Month Yield with SHOP Tariffs, Inflation and Other Key Things to Watch this Week Stocks Set to Open Lower as Trump Ratchets Up Tariff Threats, U.S. Inflation Data and Big Bank Earnings Awaited Our exclusive Barchart Brief newsletter is your FREE midday guide to what's moving stocks, sectors, and investor sentiment - delivered right when you need the info most. Subscribe today! For fiscal 2025, analysts expect TT to report an EPS of $12.92, up 15.2% year over year from a profit per share of $11.22 in fiscal 2024. Moreover, in FY2026, the company's EPS is expected to increase 11.2% annually to $14.36. TT stock has grown 27% over the past 52 weeks, outperforming the Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund's (XLI) 21.7% surge and the S&P 500 Index's ($SPX) 12.1% uptick during the same time frame. TT shares soared 8.5% following the release of its Q1 earnings on Apr. 30. The company's reported and organic revenues both increased 11% year-over-year to $4.7 billion, and surpassed the Street's estimates. Moreover, its adjusted EPS for the quarter rose 26% from the prior year's quarter to $2.45 and exceeded the consensus estimates by 11.4%. Wall Street analysts are somewhat bullish about TT's stock, with a "Moderate Buy" rating overall. Among 20 analysts covering the stock, seven recommend "Strong Buy," 12 suggest a 'Hold,' and one suggests a 'Strong Sell.' While TT currently trades above its mean price target of $436.83, the Street-high target of $500 indicates a potential upswing of 14.3% from the current market price. On the date of publication, Kritika Sarmah did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
National Post
10-07-2025
- Business
- National Post
Watts Water Technologies Named Among America's Best Midsize Companies 2025 by TIME
Article content NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. — Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: WTS), through its subsidiaries, one of the world's leading global manufacturers of plumbing, heating, and water quality solutions, has been named one of America's Best Midsize Companies 2025 by TIME. Article content To compile the list, TIME and its partners analyzed companies that operate in the United States and generated between $100 million and $10 billion in revenue in 2023 or 2024. The top 500 companies were scored on positive revenue growth, employee satisfaction, and sustainability transparency. 'At Watts, we pride ourselves on our reputation as a growing and sustainable company that is a great place to work, and this recognition from TIME underscores that,' said Robert J. Pagano, Jr., Chief Executive Officer, President, and Chairperson of the Board. 'As a leading provider of technologies and solutions designed to promote water safety, energy efficiency, and water conservation around the world, this award serves as motivation to continue growing our business responsibly, putting our people first, and doing our part to preserve one of our most precious natural resources – water – for years to come.' Article content Learn more about the Company's commitment to our customers, our community, our people and the environment by visiting Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Contacts Article content Watts Water Technologies, Inc. Article content Article content Article content
