Winter smog in some Central Otago towns is set to clear as hundreds of home owners apply to have their old fires exchanged for heat pumps and clean log burners through the Otago Regional Council's Clean Heat Clean Air initiative.
Almost 300 applications for assistance with the project have been received since the council released details of how it would subsidise the changes for certain home owners in early March.
Five assistance programmes were established by the council as incentives for mostly low-income home owners and those with community service cards to upgrade their primary sources of home heating.
The initiative aims to reduce air pollution in towns throughout the district identified under the council's Airshed 1 category, which includes Alexandra, Clyde, Cromwell, and Arrowtown.
Project manager and ORC regional services manager Jeff Donaldson said further applications for the initiative were being received by the council each day and retrofitting of homes would continue through winter.
‘‘We are really happy with the response. The contractors are putting in as many [heating appliances and as much insulation] as they can,'' Mr Donaldson said.
About 100 properties had been assessed to date with more than 40 already insulated and 23 fitted with new heating appliances.
‘‘Our goal is to complete 100 or more homes by June 30, which is when the current funding programme finishes. We are not going to slow down because of a lack of funds [after that],'' Mr Donaldson said.
The council had identified about 6000 homes in Airshed 1 towns.
The majority of applicants were community service card holders and low-income home owners, although a wealthier demographic was also starting to use the council's assistance programmes.
‘‘We are just starting to deal with people who are taking the $2000 subsidy, which is a totally different group. They are people who can afford to share the cost of replacing heating appliances,'' Mr Donaldson said.
He said heat pumps were the preferred choice of replacement appliances for applicants, with far fewer choosing clean log burners.
‘‘Some are interested in pellet fires and gas is still popular because it is easy to use although the price is quite expensive,'' he said.
Changes could be made quickly as the only appliance which required resource consent was a log burner, and Mr Donaldson said the council was already appealing for next year's round of funding, to enable the most houses to be retrofitted as soon as possible.
‘‘All the agencies and authorities which were involved with the first round of funding seem to be happy to see the project continue. Knowing full well there are at least another 200 applicants, the ORC will ensure the continuation of the programme,'' he said.
Last year the ORC set aside $400,000 for the initiative which was boosted by funding from the Central Otago District Council, EnergySmart, Contact Energy, Aurora, and the Government's Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority.
