Installing a Chip Heater

We are thinking about installing a Chip Heater which will provide hot water and limited radiator warmth. (2 bedroom bach)

Do we need to get "Nanny" to approve this installation ? and of course pay NZD1,000 in fees[!] for the privilege ?

Some other points to consider...
If we only heat hot water then I guess we just connect a storage cylinder but if we also want radiators (stage 2), then should we use a storage cylinder that has a coil ie don't mix the two water systems ?
We would need a pump to send the water to the radiators as they won't be higher then the chip heater.

Bill - I am negative on this with your description of a chip heater so maybe on the wrong planet with what you mean. I had a chip heater (what I understand them to be as in a tall skinny thing with a chimney) and I lasted about two weeks after having to be there 24/7 to feed the darn thing. I tried coal but that wasn't a major improvement. My brother has the same type if chip heater in his kitchen as a wetback and he too lasted a very short time with it given the need to be constantly feeding it.

Just to add to your research on this as a subject. []

Interesting comments DiDi. I haven't seen a chip heater installed in a new house for very many years. These days people go for decent-sized fires with a wetback. You can put much bigger logs in them so the need for constant feeding is greatly reduced. Our Kent burns all night when damped down on the air intake. We haven't bothered with a wetback because we don't use that much hot water anyway with just the 2 of us and this place is pretty old, so it's not worth the expense of renovating just for that.

Old school chip heater, designed to have the HWC directly adjacent to chip heater, probably not big enough output to run radiators

www.trademe.co.nz/building-renovation/he...uction-483569958.htm

Plenty of grunt from one of these

www.marshallheaters.co.nz/products.html

We installed a Kent Saturn in our house in Whangaparaoa (1970's) and it kept a family of 5 in ample hot water with 30 mins in the morning and again in the evening.

No Radiators.

I put in a 40 gal heavy head cylinder and the Kent was adjacent to the cylinder. Installed in the laundry. No issues with summer usage.

If we returned from a all day trip, the water was hot enough to use within 15 mins.

Cylinder was piped for Quick Recovery.

The Marshall looks great but at what cost ??

Building consent required ?

GrantK;426670 wrote: Interesting comments DiDi. I haven't seen a chip heater installed in a new house for very many years. These days people go for decent-sized fires with a wetback. You can put much bigger logs in them so the need for constant feeding is greatly reduced. Our Kent burns all night when damped down on the air intake. We haven't bothered with a wetback because we don't use that much hot water anyway with just the 2 of us and this place is pretty old, so it's not worth the expense of renovating just for that.

Our place is very small and a full sized fire place would take up a lot of room and be too hot.
Last winter, we had a small oil heater on (low) 24/7 and the place was very warm.
We are replacing windows with double glazed units and insulating all walls as we do this.
Ceiling and floor already insulated.

There is no hot water storage. Instant electric shower and cold everywhere else[:0]

Where we plan to install the chip heater it would be easy to "feed" and provide some warmth to our spare room area but not be uncomfortable in the summer time.
Adding a couple of radiators would provide the limited warmth we need but it appears a chip heater will not cope with the extra load.

The suggested Marshall would suite our under floor area and avoid a pump but that means going outside in the winter to feed it

Advice from Waikato District Council.
Fireplaces have a reduced fee for building consent.
$190 plus $135 for inspection and $40 levey.

They say this can include installation of a wetback, if signed off by a plumber.

Strange bit is about what yu can install.

There is a multipage document they can send with approved models listed.

Rules are Multifuel Heater can be installed on any sized property.
You can use only wood but you must tell them the fire place is Multifuel.
I guess we can all sleep beter knowing that all the fireplaces burning wood only can burn some other fuel :confused:

If it is a wood only fire, then your property must be over 2,000m2 (or some figure like that).

However... if you install a conventional fire place, you can be on any size property.:confused: so why all the rules above ??

You also must have smoke alarms installed.

Not as bad as I thought but still, a new fireplace and flue is $1,700 yet the council will add nearly $400 to this.

Sad they can't allow a Tradesman to submit a certificate and charge a File fee to have the document entered in your property file.

Our car can be signed off by a Tradesman but not our wood stove :confused:

Totoal rubbish as you suggest Bill. Every new fireplace comes with specifications as to what is required to put them in i.e distance from walls, floor etc and I couldn't agree with you more. If a licenced plumber puts your fireplace in to the set guidelines and is prepared to sign off on that then what the hell is that to do with the Council beyond signing it off?

I worked in insurance for some time and met with this all the time. If the fireplace did not cause the fire them you were covered regardless of whether it was signed off by council so yes - just another money grabbing nonsense by your local council.

am looking a log fire for our place it seems masport fires you can add a the wet back later if you want, some are instaled in the factory
just more usless info
good luck