With its new showroom, Stiebel Eltron goes from strength to strength in New Zealand

A mainstay in the field of energy efficient hot water products, Stiebel Eltron’s presence in subsidiaries around the world have rich and varied histories, and New Zealand’s story is no exception.

The company’s New Zealand operations began in 1996 as a licensee, and from then it steadily developed in the New Zealand market — specialising predominantly in water heaters and room heaters.

After over a decade of success locally, it progressed to its next stage in Aotearoa in 2016, when the company decided to open its own daughter company, under the leadership of Stiebel Eltron New Zealand’s managing director Jason Kerr.

A veteran of the company, Jason has 16 years of experience under his belt at Stiebel Eltron. And being a Kiwi, when the time came to launch the New Zealand subsidiary six years ago, he was the natural choice to take the helm.

“I was based in Australia at the time — I had lived there over a decade. But I jumped at the opportunity to come back home, to kick it off here and introduce the whole range of products.”

Before the subsidiary was established, the primary focus of the New Zealand-based agents was solely on standard hot water products. But as Jason and his team started to grow the Kiwi business, emphasis started to shift towards the company’s renewable offerings, like the geothermal hydronic heating heat pump.

“We started off with our hot water units through all the merchants and architects, and then released their renewables range to the architects and designers and underfloor heating specialists.

“It was really exciting to be able to expand into New Zealand and release those products, because there’s a growing appetite here for sustainable, efficient products like this.”

Since the beginning of the subsidiary, things have only been getting better for Stiebel Eltron New Zealand. Just last year, the company opened a new showroom in Takapuna. Jason says this was a huge opportunity for the business — giving it the chance to showcase itself more clearly not only to the local industry and stakeholders, but also to the parent company in Germany.

“It was really good to see Germany invest in New Zealand as well, which allowed us to show the industry what's available in the market here in New Zealand in terms of energy efficient products.”

Jason says the main aim of the showroom is to create a space where architects and designers can come in and visualise the products, which then allows them to specify them and present them to the owners. Installers can also come in and participate in training in-store.

The Takapuna showroom was recently completed, but it has yet to open its doors for a key reason: “The big boss in Germany absolutely wants to be here when we finally open our doors — he said we can’t have an opening until he’s able to come across and have a few wines with us!” says Jason. “So we’re looking at around August for the official opening.”

When that day comes in the coming months, Stiebel Eltron New Zealand has ensured that they’ll be ready: functioning hot water units, a working under floor heating system and ventilation system will all be ready to go.

“We’re very much looking forward to it.”

Learn more about Stiebel Eltron New Zealand and its offerings.