Costs of different heating systems

The table below gives a comparison between installed costs, efficiencies, and running costs for different heating appliances (November 2011).

Some notes on columns in the table:

Energy efficiency:

The energy efficiency displayed are a guideline only and can differ greatly between models and brands.
Please be aware that the efficiencies of woodburners as listed on the Environment Canterbury website or the Ministry for the Environment website are efficiencies as tested in a controlled testing environment and actual performance can be higher depending on maintenance, use practices and fuel used.

Cost to install:

Costs displayed are a guideline only and can vary widely between models, brands and installation companies.

Capacity:

The capacity as displayed is a common capacity for the appliance type but other capacities may be available.

Fuel	Heating Type	Typical energy efficiency	Typical cost to install	Typical capacity (kW)	Fuel cost (av) in ($ per *, see below)	Cost per heat output unit ($ per kWh)	Cost to run per hr ($ per kWh x capacity (kW))
Electricity	Fan heater	100%	$30	2.4	0.24	0.24	0.57
	Oil column	100%	$60	1.5	0.24	0.24	0.36
	Oil column	100%	$170	2.4	0.24	0.24	0.57
	Radiant (bar)	100%	$30	1.2	0.24	0.24	0.28
	Radiant (bar)	100%	$80	2.4	0.24	0.24	0.57
	Nightstore	80%	$1440	3.4	0.14	0.18	0.61
	Heatpump (wall)	370%	$2750	5.4	0.24	0.06	0.34
	Heatpump (wall)	370%	$3200	6.8	0.24	0.06	0.43
	Heatpump (floor)	370%	$4000	5.6	0.24	0.06	0.36
	Heatpump (central)	330%	$15,000	14	0.24	0.07	1.00
	Ground source Heatpump (central)	400%	$32,000	15	0.24	0.06	0.89
Gas	Flued gas	80%	$5,400	7	2.43	0.24	1.66
	Unflued gas	90%	$250	4	3.89	0.34	1.35
	Flued gas (central)	93%	$13,000	15	2.43	0.20	3.06
Solid fuel	Logburner - wood	Free-standing 70%	$3500	16	63.25	0.05	0.86
Solid fuel		Enclosed 65%	$3,500	14	63.25	0.06	0.81
Wood Pellet	Pellet Fire	82%	$5,100	9.5	0.53	0.12	1.16
Wood Pellet	Central heat-pellet	96%	$27,000	15	0.53	0.12	1.56
Diesel	Diesel - cabinet	93%	$4,800	9.5	1.49	0.16	1.53
Diesel	Diesel - central heat	91%	$16,000	15	1.49	0.16	2.47

*electricity = price per kWh (inc GST)

*gas = price per kg

*wood price per m³

*pellets price per kg

*diesel = price per litre

*central=underfloor central heating except heatpump = ducted central heating