All homeowners qualify for assistance with the cost of insulation as this must be completed before clean heat can be installed. Replacing an existing non-compliant woodburner or open fire within the Hastings or Napier airshed qualifies homeowners earning under $100,000 per year for Regional Council clean heat funding. Your Service Provider (installer) will direct you on the best clean heat option for your home and ensure any replacement burner meets the emission ratings for each airshed.
Homeowners can access funding from both ENERGYWISE and Hawke’s Bay Regional Council. Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’s Heat Smart funding assistance programme offers homeowners an additional one-off grant or top up loan to be repaid over 10 years through the property’s Rates. Work out the funding assistance you qualify for using the tables below. Use Table A if your house is inside an airshed or Table B for homes outside the airsheds.
Important Points
- All funding applications must be made through an EECA-contracted service provider (installer).
- Ceiling and underfloor insulation must be completed to EECA standards before funded clean heating can be installed.
- Clean heat devices include approved solid fuel wood burners, 4-star AGA-rated flued gas heaters, approved wood pellet burners and Energy Star qualified heat pumps.
- To qualify for Regional Council clean heat funding you must be replacing an existing non-compliant woodburner or open fire.The emission rating for compliant woodburners in the Hastings airshed is 0.7 grams of particluate matter for every kg of wood. The Napier airshed emission rating is 1.5 grams of particluate matter for every kg of wood.
- You may apply to both ENERGYWISETM and Hawke’s Bay Regional Council for funding assistance. A landlord is eligible for the grant or loan where the tenant is a Community Services Card holder.
- One Regional Council non-repayable grant or loan is allowed per household.
- The value of the loan, interest and fees is repaid over a 10 year period through your property’s rates; all figures include GST.
- Homes built after 2000 may be eligible for Regional Council funding after July 2010.
- For the purposes of the Heat Smart Programme the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council ‘top up loan‘ will take the form of a Council funded installation service provided to the Ratepayer and recovered though a targeted rate mechanism.
There is a wide range of clean heating options available to choose from, depending on what’s best for your home, your preference and price range. The best place to start is the Energywise website. Click here to see the most up to date list of heating devices which have been approved for funding assistance. These include selected wood burners, pellet fires, heat pumps and flued gas heaters.
The Napier and Hastings airsheds include Napier and Taradale, Hastings, Havelock North, Flaxmere and parts of Clive. These are the places most affected by local air pollution. Houses inside an airshed qualify for more funding as an incentive to reduce air pollution (PM10) in these areas. Like all other regions in New Zealand, Hawke’s Bay must meet the National Environmental Standard (NES) for air quality set by the Ministry for the Environment. Currently, PM10 levels over Napier and Hastings urban centres on cold, clear winter nights exceed this standard.
Hastings Airshed
Napier Airshed
Monitoring of the Hastings and Napier urban centres show the following contributing factors to average daily winter PM10 exceedences:
Hastings
- Domestic heating 88%
- Outdoor burning 5%
- Motor vehicles 4%
- Industry 3%
There are currently approximately 11,000 burners within the Hastings airshed area. To comply with NES by 2013 PM10 Hastings emissions need to reduce by 71%
Napier
- Domestic heating 87%
- Outdoor burning 5%
- Motor vehicles 4%
- Industry 2%
- Marine 1%
- Aviation 1%
There are currently approximately 10,700 burners in the Napier airshed area. To comply with NES by 2013 Napier’s PM10 emissions need to reduce by 47%.
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PM10 comes from sources such as burning wood, coal, oil and light fuel oil in domestic fires, transportation and industrial processes and defines a size of 'particulate matter'. Natural sources of this particulate matter include sea salt, dust, pollens and volcanic activity. The Ministry for the Environment has set a national target date of September 2013 to have reduced the amount of PM10 in the airsheds so it does not exceed a 24 hour average of more than 50 µg/m3 (microgram per cubic metre) more than once per year. If Hawke’s Bay does not comply with this target no new resource consents are permitted to be issued within that airshed. This will have a significant impact on our local industries and those they employ.
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To ensure we reach the air quality targets set by the Ministry for the Environment by 2013 Hawke’s Bay Regional Council has proposed:
- 100% removal and replacement of non-complying domestic solid fuel burners and open fires within the Hastings and Napier airsheds;
- Prohibited outdoor burning in both Napier and Hastings airsheds, or rules to ensure that outdoor burning does not add to total PM10 levels on winter days where exceedence is likely.
The key points in the proposed rules are:
- All open fires will be prohibited from use after 1 January 2011.
- Any outside fire used for cooking, such as pizza ovens, hangi or braziers, will be permitted.
- Non-complying wood burners put in before 31 December 1995 can be used until 1 January 2011. Homeowners with non complying burners will then need to install a clean heating option.
- Non-complying burners put in between 1 January 1996 and 31 August 2005 can be used until 1 January 2012.
- Non-complying burners installed after 31 August 2005 can be used until 1 January 2013.
- Homeowners will then need to install a clean heating option. Please note: building inspectors at your local city or district council have been checking that new wood burner installations comply since 2005.
- Council has proposed a lower emission limit for burners in Hastings (0.7 grams of particulate matter for every kg of wood) than the government's emission standard of 1.5g/kg. This is because Hastings has a greater PM10 problem than Napier. By limiting the emission rating, Hastings will still reduce its overall pollution. This provision could change as Council investigates further with the help of manufacturers. Click here to find out more about the Air Quality recommendations.
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council has lodged a submission with the Ministry for the Environment which includes extending the timeline from 2013 to 2020, increasing the number of exeedences permitted annually from 1 to 5, and removing the resource consent penalty. Council will hold hearings for the proposed plan change during November with a decision expected early next year.
If you would like further information about the Regional Council's funding assistance programme, air quality, or proposed changes to the National Environment Standard, please email your contact details and query to our Healthy Homes Programme Manager.