bourbon-biscuit

This is a little bit of a brag

Our first winter here was in a proper Kiwi villa and we FROZE! There was no insulation and the ancient fire only warmed the one room. Getting out of our damp beds in the mornings felt like being slapped.

So we instructed builders to put expol under the floor and sound proof batts throughout our new build. We sited the house to capture maximum sun- our bedroom and the bathrooms being the only rooms *not* bathed in it all day. We bought a metro fire that heats homes of up to double the size of ours and put in a heat transfer system- moving the excess heat from lounge area with the fire to the bedrooms. We placed the heat transfer 'outlets' near the bedroom doors. The study, which is in the room between living room (shares a wall with the wood burner) and the first bedroom is unheated ..... and yet, despite this very cold weather, our house being in the middle of a huge paddock in the middle of nowhere, totally exposed to the Southerlies and Westerlies, I am sat here in a t-shirt We have built a cheaper end home so didn't go for heat pumps, underfloor heating etc but so far, sweet as

My only moan would be that the brand new furnace of a wood burner, though wonderful, is all eco'd up and therefore doesn't keep in at night- but, as we live in the middle of nowhere, as soon as my Code of Compliance comes through it is being butchered!!!!

bourbon-biscuit

my only other moan about the house would be the 'crying windows' when we wake in the morning Anyone got some good advice about this problem- needs to be a fairly cheap

howden40

Dehumidifier, not badly priced either Bunnings has a sale on.

You will notice a difference to warmth and 'crying' windows we did.

Genesis

Cook with the extractor on. Use your bathrooms with the extractors on. Try to ensure there is a bit of circulation of air in your house, this will reduce crying windows, as will the instalation of DVS which is quite cheap. Buy a dehumidifier..I have 6 and could not be without them!!!! The best is a Mitsibushi Oasis. You can get them 2nd hand on trademe, they are about $1k new $300 or so on trademe. They are low watts too..about 380.

Our home is very warm. We are half way thru double glazing it, have put in a great woodburner and installed euro CH. We also run most of those dehumids during winter. We chose to not use the already installed heat pumps, electric hot air heating or 'feature' gas fire, thus had all the afore mentioned above installed as our preference.

Kiwiprincess

for the windows, depending on how bad, just open them in the morning as soon as you wake up. Not wide open, don't wanna freeze. Just slightly so that they are unlatched. If you are concerned about security when you go to work or don't want to leave them unlocked, close them before you leave.

If windows with two latches on the side - rather than one at the base - but you do want to leave the house, then leave one latch undone which allows a slight draft. Again, not safe if you are really paranoid but lets face it, if a burglar wanted to get in, they would find a way.

Oh, a draft doesn't mean that the room will become absolutely freezing. Once the windows clear up you can close the window. Seriously, i open my windows less than a centimetre and I have never had a problem.

shirl

On the odd occassion that I have windows running wet I use the rubber blade of the window wiper it only takes a minute to run down the windows and they are dry. Of course if you can afford to either a moisture master, dvs, or hrv would be better. On the warmth side we have a heat pump, gas fire in the lounge and nothing in the bedrooms which don't get much sun either. We usually put the oil fin heater on in our bedroom if it is cold to take the chill off. When the sun is out the living and kitchen areas heat up with the sun/don't need the heatpump on during the day, mind you, today we have had heavy snow so it has been on today.

crap coffee

~ When I woke up this morning alone in my bed
~ In a cold room with damp sheets, and a pain in my head

~ Because I just can't stand it, no I can't stand it
~ No I can't stand it any longer ! :curse:

-terry hall & Rhoda Dakar- (I can't stand it)

my place where I live now is the worst ever. I've never lived such a cold damp place like this. I moved here last year, and the first winter was horrendous. In winter, if I open the bedroom door, then it feels like walking into the South Pole (it's like -20 C ) Kitchen/bathroom/lounge just FReezing. It's beastly cold. You don't want to heat the area you don't need right?

My bedroom? It's dark and damp. and cold - I actually seem to get headaches lately due to the coldness at my place. Especially this Monday was horrible (I was grumpy all day ). and today's another unpleasant day (but I was out all day anyway). I use very old small oil heater (which my parents bought when we emigrated to NZ in the early 90's; its crap but consumes less energy) in my bedroom in order to save energy. so if I step out of the bedroom then, I start coughing. I can't have shower without the heater on. This is a life. We lived in Scotland. but - nothing nasty & miserable like this :curse: In fact it was quite comfy & warm in an apartment.

probably things I don't like the most about NZ is housing matter which is disgusting. going back to the u.k is not the best solution (right now) but I am just thinking what other options I have? unless I win the lotto?

nah... theres nothing much I can do about it .... in terms of coldness..and poor insulation

I can survive like this. but I know this is really bad for your health. - not only me but everybody here.

well. it's good to share my feelings with you guys.

LizaJane

did the same...good hey!

LizaJane

I still open all my doors, all the bedrooms and living areas have patio doors onto the gardens...still don't find the winters that cold...been here nearly 5 years and missing the frost...!!!?

howden40

I'll say it again, a lot of the cold is caused by damp air, try a dehumidifier to remove the damp. It does work, will save on heating and dry out all the house, so the areas not heated will not feel as cold. We only have 1, moved it around for the first few days now leave it in a central area, turn it on at night or if particularly damp day.

crap coffee

Thanks. I've been thinking hard about buying a dehumidifier for a long time - ever since we returned from the u.k. have never managed to buy one yet (I'd prefer to buy a new one) It's $1000! (not sure happy to pay $1000 ??)

I usually feel okay at nights but then when I get up in the morning - if it's a rainy cold day then I start feeling grumpy & headaches. think I need to turn it on in the morning/during the day And Nights! !!!

My parents don't bother using it as they think Auckland isn't as Cold as Wellington. but I know it's quite damp there - especially the carpet - it's gross. even when I was young in Welly, (yes it was a very cold/windy house) we never used the dehumidifier as we had the Gas heater for 7 years in Brooklyn! It wasn't very efficient though!

howden40

[QUOTE=crap coffee;6444083]Thanks. I've been thinking hard about buying a dehumidifier for a long time - ever since we returned from the u.k. have never managed to buy one yet (I'd prefer to buy a new one) It's $1000! (not sure happy to pay $1000 ??)

No, Bunnings has them for under $200, we paid a little over $200 at the Warehouse. Made $6 per month difference on our electricity bill

luvwelly

I've just bought a Mitsubishi dehumidifier as someone said they were the best on another thread....I have warm air central heating in most of the house which works fine except in two downstairs rooms....happy to report that I am thinking of buying another as I have been amazed at how much water has been picked up in a week of use in the two downstairs rooms...the instructions say that after you have dried an area out you will be able to put it on a mode where it comes on intermittently to keep the humidity at the level you set.

Goodness knows what the impact will be on the gas/electricity bill but I think it is important to minimise the damp air and who knows....as dry air is easier to heat it may just even out.
I am currently experimenting with keeping my heating thermostat at a constant 18 (Kiwi central heating temperature he said lol) and just raising temperature when I feel I need it during the day/evening, as the installer has advised me that is more economical than switching it off overnight and then revving it up to my usual 23 during the day! Something about it being more efficient not to let the house cool down too much overnight.....I remain to be convinced but am giving it a fair trail.

Thanks to both these measures: constant temperature (yes I agree 18 is arctic!) and the dehumidifier, I would say the house is already more comfortable.

jueinnz

My tip....Don't dry your clothes inside when it is wet....all that water has to go somewhere we used to last year but this year we have installed a hanging rail in the garage and then keep the window open in there. The only windows that have been wet in the morning is the one we are sleeping in. I have also for the 1st year actually closed my curtains at night!!! and that has made a huge difference, have to admit we haven't been cold yet!!!

dlmckay

Now that we've figured out how to run the woodburner our house is quite warm - not as warm as the 25oC CH in the UK that we had, but at least I can watch TV and not be rugged up as if I were outside!

The woodburner keeps the living, dining and kitchen areas very toasty if the doors to the bedrooms and rumpus are closed. However, I like the whole house to be warm, so the bedrooms have two fan heaters (which helps move the air about a bit too), there's a dehumidifer in the hall and the rumpus has a dehumidifer and an oil heater.

We're warm, but I still need wooly socks first thing in the morning - that wood floor is chilly until the sun comes up!