Heat pump types and how to pick one for your Nelson home
There's no single best heat pump. The right one depends on your rooms, your budget and how cold your part of Nelson gets. Here's how the main types stack up.
The main heat pump types are high wall, floor console, ducted, ceiling cassette and multi split. High walls suit most rooms. Floor consoles push warmth in fast on frosty mornings. Ducted heats a whole home. The best pick depends on your layout, insulation and budget.
High wall heat pumps: the standard choice for most rooms
The high wall unit is what most Nelson homes end up with, and for good reason. It mounts up high on the wall, blows warm air across the room, and it's the cheapest type to buy and fit. For a lounge, a bedroom or an open-plan kitchen-dining, a well-sized high wall does the job.
The catch is the warm air starts up high and works its way down. In a draughty single-glazed villa with high studs, that can mean a slower warm-up on a cold morning while the heat settles. Not a dealbreaker, just something to weigh against a floor console.
Floor consoles for frosty mornings and draughty villas
Nelson gets those still, frosty starts where the air sits cold near the floor. That's where a floor console earns its keep. It sits low on the wall like a radiator, so warmth lands at foot level first and the room feels warm faster. If you've got an older weatherboard place in a central cold pocket, this is worth a look.
They cost a bit more than a high wall and they take up floor-level wall space, so you need a clear spot for one. We go through the trade-offs on our page about floor console heat pumps if that sounds like your rooms.
Heating the whole house: ducted and ceiling cassette
If you want even heat through the whole home without a unit on every wall, ducted is the tidy option. The gear sits in the ceiling and pushes warmth through vents into each room. It's the priciest to install and works best when planned into a build or a renovation, so it suits Nelson's newer open-plan homes more than a retrofit into an old villa.
A middle ground is the ceiling cassette, which recesses into the ceiling and blows warm air down across a large open space. Read up on ducted heat pumps and ceiling cassette heat pumps to see which fits your ceiling space and budget.
One outdoor unit, several rooms: multi split systems
Got a few rooms to heat but no room for a bank of outdoor units? A multi split runs several indoor heads off one outdoor compressor. Handy on a smaller Nelson section or a villa where you'd rather not clutter the outside walls. You can even mix a high wall in the bedrooms with a floor console in the lounge.
It costs more up front than separate single units, but it keeps the outside neat. There's more detail on how they're set up on our multi split heat pumps page.
Salt air and where the outdoor unit goes
Where the unit lives matters as much as which type you pick. Coastal spots around Nelson and out toward Motueka get salt in the air, which is hard on outdoor units over time. We site them out of the worst of the spray and pick coils that handle it better.
Once it's in, keeping it running well comes down to regular heat pump servicing. Note that we only service and repair the heat pumps we installed ourselves, not other companies' installs. It's how we stand behind our own work.
Have a look at our heat pump sizing calculator and heat pump installation cost for more.
Not sure which type suits your rooms?
Run your rooms through our heat pump sizing calculator to get a feel for the capacity you need, then check the heat pump installation cost for each type. Or just call us on 027 725 2525 and we'll talk it through.
Common questions about heat pump types
What are the different types of heat pumps?
The main types are high wall, floor console, ducted, ceiling cassette and multi split. High wall units are the most common and cheapest. Floor consoles sit low and warm a room fast. Ducted and cassette units heat larger open spaces, and a multi split runs several indoor heads off one outdoor unit.
What is the difference between a high-wall and a floor console heat pump?
A high wall mounts up high and blows warm air across and down the room, which is fine for most spaces but slower to warm cold air near the floor. A floor console sits low like a radiator, so warmth reaches foot level first. On Nelson's frosty mornings that quick low-level warmth makes a floor console a strong pick for draughty rooms.
Which type of heat pump is best for my home?
It depends on the room, your insulation and budget. For a standard lounge or bedroom a high wall usually does fine. For a cold, draughty villa a floor console warms up faster. For a whole open-plan home, ducted or a cassette suits better. Tell us your layout and we'll point you to the right one.
Let's match a unit to your home
Whether you're in Nelson City, Stoke or out Richmond way, we'll look at your rooms and recommend the type that actually fits. Get in touch for a quote.