Heating for your home
It is important for your health and comfort to stay warm in ACT winters. Winter heating bills often make up about half of a home’s annual energy bills. That’s why we need to find warmth as efficiently as possible.
Quick tips
There are many ways to cut your heating costs. You can:
- use blinds and curtains to keep out the cold at night and let in the sun during the day
- seal gaps around windows, doors and exhaust fans
- keep doors closed and only heat the spaces you’re using
- turn down the thermostat to between 18 and 21˚C – every degree warmer costs you around 5–10% more
- turn your heater off overnight or turn the thermostat down even further
- turn off your heater 30 minutes before you leave the house
- keep warm when sitting down with extra layers or a heated throw rug
- wear slippers or socks and
- attend one of our free workshops for great tips on how to heat your home efficiently.
For more winter energy tips, visit our page on keeping warm for less.
Find out the latest top-rated CHOICE electric appliances
Did you know that ACT Government has a partnership with CHOICE and you can now access their top-rated appliance recommendations for cooking, heating and cooling, and hot water heat pumps across all budget types?
Visit the Make your next choice electric website to complete your transition plan, see some of the top-rated electric appliances and learn how much you could save annually on your bill.
The best heating for your home
The cost of a heater is more than its purchase price. It’s also about the cost to install and run it.
The best heating option depends on your home. For example, a well-sealed and well-insulated home will mean you could install a smaller, more affordable heater.
Get to know the efficiency of different heater types:
Reverse-cycle air-conditioners can be your cheapest heating option to run. Reverse-cycle air-conditioners are cheaper to run than portable electric heaters like radiators, column heaters or fan heaters, and far cheaper to run than gas heaters.
You could save 50 to 80% on your heating bill, compared with other options.
For every one unit of electricity used, reverse-cycle air-conditioners turn this into 3 to 6 units of heat, making them 300–600% efficient.
Reverse-cycle air-conditioners will cool and warm your home. This means you only need the one system all-year-round. Make sure to:
- look for a model with a high star rating
- keep the filter and units clean, both indoors and outdoors
- follow the instruction manual
- have your system serviced every year.
All electric heating and cooling systems have an outside compressor unit of some kind. When purchasing a system, seek advice from your supplier to help you decide on the best installation location for your outside unit to reduce noise impacts on surrounding neighbours. There are legal limits for the noise levels at the property boundary that are the responsibility of the homeowner. For more information, see installation of air conditioners, evaporative coolers and heat pumps [DOCX 83.8 KB].
Electric in-slab floor heating is usually the most expensive heating system to run.
While portable electric heaters can be cheap to buy, they can be expensive to run. Electric element heaters come in many types and sizes, including:
- blower heaters
- oil column heaters
- bar radiators
- infrared panels.
While they have different ways of giving heat, the rate at which they convert electricity to heat (efficiency) is very poor – one unit of electricity produces one unit of heat. Due to high running costs, you should only use them in small rooms and only for short periods.
If you use an electric element heater, it’s smart to make sure it distributes heat in a useful way. For example, a wall-mounted panel heater might put out a large amount of heat but if it’s on the other side of the room from where you’re sitting, most of the heat may be wasted heating the wall and ceiling above rather than you.
An electric element heater with a digital thermostat can be set at a desired temperature. The thermostat will automatically switch the heater on and off to keep an area at the desired temperature. This makes them potentially cheaper to run because they’re not on all the time.
Radiant heaters work by heating you rather than the air. They allow you to keep warm without having to heat the entire room. Radiant heaters use a lot of electricity and can be expensive to run, so it’s a good idea to switch them off when no one is in the room.
Ducted gas central heating systems heat your whole home and run on a gas furnace. A gas system heats your home quickly, but a reverse-cycle system will have much lower running costs and can also cool your home for summer.
Did you know?
Upgrading your gas heating system to an efficient electric reverse-cycle air-conditioning system can reduce your emissions by around 14 tonnes over the system’s life. And you could save about $500 per year on heating bills. You may be eligible for an interest-free loan to switch from gas to electric. Discover how much money you will save if you transition to all-electric.
Hydronic central heating systems heat water and distribute heat through radiators or pipes in the walls or floor. Hydronic systems can allow you to zone your heating area down to one room. They are usually gas-fired, but may also use a wood-fired heater, solar system or heat pump.
Wood-fired heaters cause emissions and pollute the environment so are not recommended. Find out more about removing your wood heater.
Important safety considerations
If you use a wood heater, seek professional advice before draught-proofing your home.
If you have an unflued gas heater, we recommend you replace it immediately as they produce dangerous carbon monoxide fumes.
Ducted versus wall-mounted systems
Ducted or central systems heat the whole house. The heat can be generated by a gas furnace or by an electric reverse cycle air conditioner.
Ducted systems are generally more expensive to run than wall-mounted heaters of the same type. This is because they heat much larger areas and as much as 30% of heat they generate can be lost through the ducting.
Ducted systems also reduce the thermal performance of your ceiling as outlet vents can be poorly sealed.
Wall-mounted heaters, such as gas, electric element and split system reverse-cycle air-conditioners heat one large room or a couple of adjacent rooms if there’s good air flow between them.
Only heating areas of your home that are in use (known as a zoned system) can be better for energy efficiency.
Using several split system air-conditioners or a couple of split systems with multiple heads (multiple indoor units attached to one outdoor unit) instead of a ducted system is generally:
- cheaper to buy and install
- cheaper to run
- more efficient per unit of heat delivered
- able to heat and cool spaces that are being used
- able to set different temperatures in different areas of your home
- unlikely to reduce the thermal performance of your ceiling or floor.
Ready to start? Get help from our one stop shop
Our Sustainable Home Advice service is your one stop shop to get information on how to reduce your energy bills and make your home more comfortable. You can also learn about what ACT Government supports and rebates you may be eligible for.
Acknowledgement of Country
We acknowledge the Ngunnawal people as traditional custodians of the ACT and recognise any other people or families with connection to the lands of the ACT and region. We acknowledge and respect their continuing culture and the contribution they make to the life of this city and this region.