Winter Temperatures in New Zealand Houses

Living room winter temperatures are explored using data from 397 randomly selectedhouses from the Household Energy End-use Project (HEEP). HEEP has collected energyand temperature data on a statistically representative sample of New Zealand houses(Latitudes 35S46S). Initial analysis of the winter (June-August) living roomtemperatures shows that heating type, climate, and house age are important drivers ofindoor temperatures. On average, houses heated by solid fuel are the warmest, withhouses heated by portable LPG and electric heaters the coldest. On average, over thethree winter months living rooms are below 20oC for 83% of the time and the livingroom is typically the warmest room. Space heating is mainly unit heaters, with centralheating in 5% of houses. Based on monitored energy use and temperature data, theheating seasons and heating schedules were able to be determined and compared tooccupant reports.