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Nigel and Gina Easterbrook
20 February 2025
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Thanks so much for your fantastic service. Highly highly recommend to all. Nigel and Gina Easterbrook.
Landlords
Healthy Homes heating for rentals
Every rental’s main living room needs fixed heating that can reach 18°C. Here’s how much your room needs, which heaters count, and how a fire can do it.
What the standard says
- The main living room must have one or more fixed heaters that can heat it to at least 18°C.
- Each heater must be at least 1.5 kW, and electric heaters and heat pumps need a thermostat.
- Open fires and unflued gas heaters never count. If the room needs more than 2.4 kW, electric heaters other than heat pumps don’t count either.
- Wood burners count, using the “highest average output” on the fire’s label or consent records, which is lower than the peak output in brochures. A new one needs a building consent and, on a section under 2 hectares, must be an authorised clean air model.
- Flued gas fires and heat pumps count.
- All private rentals have had to comply since 1 July 2025.
Why a fire suits a rental
Most living rooms in older Bay of Plenty homes need more than 2.4 kW, so a plug-in or panel heater can’t do the job. A heat pump or a fire can. A flued gas fire gives tenants heat at a switch, and a clean air wood burner gives strong heat and keeps working in a power cut. We supply, install and sign off fires for landlords and property managers across Tauranga and the Western Bay. See property managers and reports & inspections.
For a result you can rely on, use the official heating assessment tool. The regulations say a landlord who uses it in good faith can rely on its result. Our calculator is a quick estimate using the same formula.
Sources
Official guidance we checked when writing this page (November 2026). Rules and fees change, so check the source or ask us before you rely on a figure.
Good to Know
Common questions
Does a wood burner meet the Healthy Homes heating standard?
Yes, if it’s fixed, in or ducted into the main living room, and its highest average output meets the room’s required capacity. A new one needs a building consent and, under 2 hectares, an authorised clean air model.
Does a gas fire count for Healthy Homes?
A flued gas fire counts. Unflued gas heaters and portable LPG heaters never count.
Can I use an electric heater?
Only if the room needs 2.4 kW or less, the heater is fixed, at least 1.5 kW and has a thermostat. Heat pumps count at any size.
What temperature does the heater need to reach?
At least 18°C in the main living room, on a cold winter day.
Questions?
Talk to a local expert
Free advice and an accurate installation quote from our team in Tauriko, Tauranga.
What happens next
- 1Tell us about your homeWe reply within 2 working hours to messages, or call us now.
- 2Free site checkWe look at where it’ll go, the flue route and the rules for your section.
- 3One clear quoteA written price for the fire, flue and installation.
- 4InstalledUsually 4–6 weeks after you say yes. Most of that is council consent, which we handle. The install is usually one day.