Healthy Homes Heating Standard.

Richard Gardner from All Ways Property

The heating standard will require all rental homes to have a fixed heating device capable of reaching 18°C during the coldest days of winter in the main living room. The main living room is usually the largest room in the home.

The heating standard does not require bedrooms to have heating devices as most bedrooms can be heated by portable heaters which are relatively inexpensive to buy. Heaters that have a capacity to reach 18°C, even during very cold weather, are capable of reaching higher temperatures most days of the year.

An online tool is available to calculate the required capacity of a heater in kilowatts. This tool will provide a kilowatt figure using the size of the room and information about insulation and windows.

Landlords and tenants will not have to measure temperatures inside the home.

In most rentals, it will be a large source such as a heat pump or wood burner will be required.

For very small living rooms and apartments, a small fixed electric heater may be sufficient.

Inefficient, unaffordable or unhealthy heaters like unflued gas heaters, open fires, electric heaters with a heating capacity of greater than 2.4 kilowatts or multiple electric heaters can still be used but will not be accepted as meeting the standard.