A frosty bite in the air is keeping heat pump businesses busy, with Coldrite Air Conditioning and Heat Pumps saying they have been inundated with call-outs.
But owner Jim Bullock had a piece of advice for those who were thinking about installing a heat pump system into their home this winter.
"A lot of people install what we call 'grey brands' [cheap brands] of air conditioning systems and they do not last, they struggle in cold temperatures and unfortunately people get caught out with it and they cost a lot of money to run," he said.
While he said the company was busy installing between 8-10 heat pumps in homes around Hawke's Bay every day, they've also been tasked with replacing and reinstalling cheaper systems.
"It's important for people to do their research about what heat pumps are good, too many people sell these cheap systems and we've just been replacing them full time. We've got two guys actually assigned specifically to do just that at the moment, because it's such an issue.