Insulation in Australian houses
 

Have noticed a couple of threads recently which state Austalian (and New Zealand) houses have poor insulation against the cold - that they're not built like houses in the UK etc etc.

So, what's the problem with them? Are houses in different Australian cities built to different standards, depending on weather? Obviously the houses would need to be cool to withstand the heat, but are the winters in Australia cold enough to warrant need for insulation? Do they insulate lofts with fibreglass like they do in the UK?

Just interested. For the record, I am obsessive about the cold. My house is fully insulated and I can detect a cold draught at 5 paces! Would like the opportunity to live in Oz for a while - I love the sun! :)

Re: Insulation in Australian houses
 

Australian houses have traditionally been built to cope with the hot weather. Lots of big windows, sliding glass doors, etc. They are large, wide, open and single storey. This is all designed to let the light in and the hot air out. This stands in contrast to the houses you get in the UK, which are basically little two storey shoeboxes with solid internal walls, excellent insulation and tiny windows, so the heat stays in during winter.

Unfortunately we have tended to neglect our insulation, so many Australian houses are poorly insulated or not insulated at all. This makes them very uncomfortable in winter and reduces the effectiveness of air conditioning during summer. In the UK they have the opposite problem; British houses are poorly ventilated, so you can't get rid of the heat in summer and you can hardly breath for most of the year anyway because you can't get enough fresh air into the place.

Re: Insulation in Australian houses
 

Hi there bloomfieldt

Austalia is a massive place with many different environments and climates, i have lived in Darwin where anything below 20 degree C is 'cold' and down near Canberra where i have experienced minus 5C in winter and then plus 40 in summer but in general what Vash says is true. Houses are generally built to feel cool in summer, i currently live in large steel shed in the rainforest just out Bellingen near Coffs Harbour http://www.locationlowdown.com.au/se.../NSW/Bellingen and while it is reasonably well insulated the main problem is keeping it cool, if a house is built for its enviroment it is easier to keep it cool through air flow and positioning rather than spend a fortune on air con. While it can get cool, cold, in winter, in reality 14 or 15c doesnt really require double brick wales to keep you warm.

Bob

Re: Insulation in Australian houses
 

Since the seventies there has been more emphasis on insulation and most newer houses now have it installed. Just like everywhere there are cowboys out there so its best to check before you buy. Too much insulation can be as bad as too little as there are thoughts that furniture gives off chemicals etc and this is bad for people with chest problems.

Our house is fully insulated and we have wide verandas all round so our walls never get wet, hot or cold. This is the best thing in Aus in my view.

In New Zealand the houses are mainly wooden although newer ones are being built of brick veneer these days. The reason is earthquakes, the wooden houses give better. NZ houses can be very cold so need to really check the insulation situation there.

Single story houses are more environmentally friendly for the Aussie climate because heat rises and upstairs can get very hot in summer and with the penchant for no eaves on McMansions the walls heat up like heat banks and stay that way all summer. Hence large power bills.

We designed our own house and we live on top of a hill between Port Phillip and Westernport Bay so we opted for sliding windows a couple of which are opposite sliding doors on the other side of the house, when the cool change comes we just push the windows right back and cool the house down. Steel roofs are much easier to cool down and keep the heat in better than tile in winter. We opted for sliding windows because we lived with casement windows which wound out in our last house and they never opened enough to get the breeze in.

Food for thought when you come and live here.

Re: Insulation in Australian houses
 

I have never been as cold in my life indoors as I was when I lived in NZ. Many of the rooms in the house were too cold to use during the evenings. Often we slept fully clothed as it was so cold.

No insulation, no double glazing, no central heating, and six degrees of frost outside.

My in-laws have now built a new house and when they saw how houses were built in the UK they incorporated central heating and double glazing. Oddly though, they didn't install a timer on the central heating, so in the mornings my FIL lies in bed waiting for it to get warm enough to get up so that he can go into the garage and turn the central heating on :confused:

Buzzy

Re: Insulation in Australian houses
 

Apart from the fact that not all British houses are the size of shoeboxes this is reasonably accurate. I have a two storey house, very large by UK standards, and it had NO heating at all when we moved in. We sent piccies back to the UK the first year we were here of us sat in the house in coats and hats and covered in blankets... people thought we were taking the piss... I mean, its never cold in Oz is it. :rolleyes:

We had ducted aircon installed and that improved things no end... but at a sizeable cost.

Re: Insulation in Australian houses
 

Forgetting the current insulation issues...

We were renting quite a new house that had mains gas, but it was so cold in winter. It only had two gas points - one in the kicthen and one in te eliving room, so there was no way of heating the 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms upstairs. How stupid.

Re: Insulation in Australian houses
 

During the winter, here in SE QLD, I often have to go outside to warm up.

It can get pretty cold inside. Sometimes down to 15c, yet it may be 20c outside.

Re: Insulation in Australian houses
 

Howdy, putting insulation in was one of the first things we did when we bought our house ... can't believe the previous owners survived without it.

We also put West-facing retractable blinds on, this has made the world of difference in the afternoon.

Been down to -6 here and I've had to lag the pipes outside to keep the shower working.

Yes, it gets cold. But that is what an open fire a big pile of logs and a decent Scotch is for :thumbup: And the OH, obviously ;)

Re: Insulation in Australian houses
 

Our house had no insulation and windows are very flimsy.

Also Aussies have a taste for open plan, open plan looks very nice. However come winter and you have no doors, crap windows, no central heating system = bloomin freezing house.

I live north of Perth and yes it hotter, but also freezing on a night in winter.

New landlord has put in insulation:thumbup: and ducted aircon. Now if we could just convince him that his huge mining salary could stretch to double glazing Id be very happy!

Gems

Re: Insulation in Australian houses
 

our weatherboard house is:
a wooden frame with plasterboard on the inside, boards on the outside and a gap in the frame.
So not much to keep out the cold.

H is replacing lots of weatherboards and is putting insulation in the gaps- it makes a huge difference on hot and cold days.

I wish all houses were built that way with proper insulation.

And I disagree with them being this way to cope with the heat- my guess is the builders contructed them as cheaply as possible. As far as I am aware, Melbourne has always had big fluctuations in temps between summer and winter, so it was laziness...

Re: Insulation in Australian houses
 

Just a thought...

Hot air rises, therefore it rises to the ceiling then gets dragged out of the roof space by the whirlybirds, allowing cool air to enter via the loose fitting doors and windows.

Put insulation in and that air cycle stops, causing the hot air to stay inside the house.

Insulation is good for winter, but not sure about summer.

Re: Insulation in Australian houses
 

Works for us based on 1 year without and 2 with ... we try to keep the house locked-up for as long as possible until the outside is hotter than the inside, then it's time to open 'er up. It more fun than pressing a button marked 'a/c'. :thumbup:

Re: Insulation in Australian houses
 

Interesting replies, thanks. Hoping to visit some friends in Perth later this year. I'll take my thermals with me, just in case !!

Re: Insulation in Australian houses
 

Is easy to say you love the Sun, but some parts of Aus are boiling hot all summer and doing anything is damn hard work. Even the cold tap gives you body temp water, so not much relief.