A telephone survey of domestic heating methods and fuels for Gisborne was carried out by Digipoll in March 2005. This involved surveying 150 households within the 2001 census area unit (CAU) areas of Mangapapa, Te Hapara, Gisborne Airport, Whataupoko, Gisborne Central, Kaiti North, Outer Kaiti, Kaiti South, Tamarau and Riverdale.
Survey details are shown in Table 32.1. The number of households for 2004 was estimated based on 2001 census data for occupied dwellings, extrapolated for 2004 based on Statistics New Zealand population projections. [New Zealand Statistics 2004, www.stats.govt.nz] The latter suggest a population decrease for Gisborne of 6% by 2021. [High, medium and low population projections were estimated by Statistics New Zealand. The value used is the medium population projection.]
Table 32.1: Summary survey data, Gisborne
32.1 Home heating methods and fuels
The Digipoll survey was used to collect information on home heating methods and fuels for Gisborne. These data were collected for the purpose of evaluating the impact of variations in heating methods on air quality in Gisborne, in particular the extent of change required to achieve the national environmental standard for PM10. This section presents the results of the home heating survey for Gisborne largely in tabular form, in the expectation that these results will be of value in other assessments (eg, emission inventory studies).
Tables 32.2 and 32.3 show domestic heating methods and fuels used for the main living areas in Gisborne houses, and seasonal variations in heating behaviour. The commonest methods of heating the main living area in Gisborne were wood burners (47%) and gas (44%). Many households used more than one method of heating in their main living area.
Table 32.2: Domestic home heating methods and fuels, Gisborne
A small proportion of households used wood burners during the months of November and December, but none of the respondents heated their homes during January or February (Table 32.3). The quantities of fuel used per day during non-winter months was typically less than during the winter (Table 32.4). Data are not presented for all heating methods because there was a high non-response rate for questions relating to seasonal variations for some heating types.
Table 32.3: Monthly variations in heating behaviour and fuel use, Gisborne
Table 32.4: Estimated daily fuel use, by season, Gisborne
32.2 Insulation, cost of heating, income, and house age and size
In addition to collecting data for the purpose of evaluating the impact of variations in heating methods on air quality, information was collected on a number of variables relevant to the Ministry for the Environment's Warm Homes Project. Relevant data for Gisborne are presented in this section.
Figure 32.1 shows that the proportion of households using gas systems that are properly flued in Gisborne is around 38%.
The amount spent on heating for a winter month, by heating method, is shown in Table 32.5. In Gisborne, household heating costs range on average from $54 per month for wood burners to $112 per month for electric heating.
Figure 32.2 shows the average heating costs, home ownership, age of dwelling and number of bedrooms for households in Gisborne. Around 26% of the respondents in Gisborne were living in rental accommodation.
One factor influencing the amount spent on different heating methods is the ability of households using solid fuel burners to obtain wood free of charge. Figure 32.3 shows that over 80% of the wood used on wood burners in Gisborne is self-collected
Figure 32.1: Distribution of flued versus unflued gas heating and age of wood burner, Gisborne
Text description of figure
There are two pie graphs. The first graph shows the distribution of flued and unflued gas heaters. Unflued gas makes up 62% of all gas heating and Flued gas makes up 38%.
The second graph is divided by the age of wood burners. Post-1999 wood burners make up 18%, 1994-99 wood burners make up 29% and the remaining 53% of wood burners are Pre-1994.
Table 32.5: Average monthly heating costs (winter), Gisborne
Figure 32.2: Domestic heating method, by average monthly heating expenditure, house ownership, house age and number of bedrooms, Gisborne
Average heating cost per month (winter)
House ownership
Age of dwelling
Number of bedrooms
Text description of figure
There are four bar graphs.
The first graph sets out the average heating cost per month in winter. Cost per month by heating methods are: electric $112, gas $67, open fire $0, wood burner $54, pellet burner $0, multi-fuel $0 and oil $0.
The second graph sets out heating methods divided by home tenure. For households living in rentals 246 use electric, 329 use gas, 62 use open fire, 267 use wood burners, 0 use pellet burners, 21 use multi-fuel and 0 use oil. For households living in their own house 310 use electricity, 4186 use gas, 185 use open fires, 4521 use wood burners, 0 use pellet burners, 144 use multi-fuel and 48 use oil.
The third graph sets out the age of a dwelling using a particular method of heating.
- Heating methods for houses under 10 years old are 5% electric, 3% gas, 1% wood burners, 0% multi fuel and 17% open fires.
- Heating methods for houses between 11 and 20 years old are 2% electric, 2% gas, 2% wood burners, 0% multi fuel and 0% open fires.
- Heating methods for houses between 21 and 40 years old are 7% electric, 6% gas, 9% wood burners, 33% multi fuel and 17% open fires.
- Heating methods for houses over 41 years old are 16% electric, 13% gas, 12% wood burners, 44% multi fuel and 58% open fires.
The fourth graph sets out particular heating methods by the number of bedrooms.
- Heating methods for houses with one bedroom are 0% electricity, 2% gas, 0% wood burner, 0% multi fuel and 0% open fire.
- Heating methods for houses with two bedrooms are 5% electricity, 5% gas, 3% wood burner, 22% multi fuel and 17% open fire.
- Heating methods for houses with three bedrooms are 15% electricity, 12% gas, 11% wood burner, 33% multi fuel and 33% open fire.
- Heating methods for houses with four bedrooms are 8% electricity, 7% gas, 10% wood burner, 11% multi fuel and 33% open fire.
- Heating methods for houses with five bedrooms are 3% electricity, 0% gas, 2% wood burner, 22% multi fuel and 17% open fire.
- Heating methods for houses with six bedrooms are 1% electricity, 1% gas, 0% wood burner, 0% multi fuel and 0% open fire.
Figure 32.3: Proportions of fuel obtained free of charge versus bought, Gisborne
Text description of figure
This bar graph shows the amount of wood either bought or collected free of charge by three different types of heating.
Those using open fires bought 65% of their fuel, those using wood burners bought 40% of their fuel and those using multi-fuel burners bought 45% of their fuel.
Table 32.6: Type of electric heating, Gisborne
The commonest types of electric heating used in the main living area in Gisborne houses were oil column heaters, radiant heaters and fan heaters (Table 32.6). A number of houses used more than one type of electric heater in their main living area.
Data on home heating methods, by house ownership, are shown in Table 32.7.
Table 32.7: Home heating method, by house ownership, Gisborne
Household insulation types and heating methods are shown in Tables 32.8 and 32.9. Sixty-four percent of houses had ceiling insulation and only 40% had wall insulation. Only 20% of houses had at least three types of insulation.
Table 32.10 shows home heating method, by household income. The overall non-response rate was around 23%. This limits the interpretation of these data because there may be an income bias in the non-respondents.
Table 32.8: House insulation summary statistics, Gisborne
Table 32.9: Degree of house insulation, by heating method, Gisborne
Table 32.10: Home heating method, by household income, Gisborne
Tables 32.11 and 32.12 show the relationship between heating methods and the age of the dwelling and number of bedrooms, respectively.
Table 32.11: Home heating method, by age of dwelling, Gisborne
Table 32.12: Home heating method, by number of bedrooms, Gisborne
32 Gisborne
November 2005
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