The Weezer

Not to say, uncomfortable, now that winter is coming.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/...ectid=10429381


But wait, no need to despair yet. NZ has *finally* discovered that it
is actually healthier to have insulated homes!

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SC0703/S00013.htm


Sick of the rising damp and cold, and smell and discomfort it brings, not
to mention the lung diseases? Need money to upgrade your home to developed world levels of heating and insulation? No problem, just get deeper into debt like your fellow NZers.

http://www.nzinstitute.org/index.php...ng_dark_cloud/

RobClubley

That's what we did But now we have lots of insulation and double glazing. The gut that did the wall insulation reckons we're 20 years ahead of th eaverage NZ house!

The Weezer

Do you have central heating? Aren't double glazed windows really
expensive? They're pretty much standard back home, but I haven't
seen any houses so far that have them. What about window screens?

We have a wood burning stove, which I don't like because it pollutes,
and we put our fish tank a little too close to it, so I'm afraid to boil the poor things. No matter, we now have a heat pump, which was expensive,
but my little kitty, Weezer, used to so much love the air conditioning
back home, we thought it was best for her and us.

RobClubley

Double glazing is about 25-30% more expensive than single and the windows needed replacing anyway. Rude not to, we thought!
We only have a gas heater at the moment. We haven't decided what to do yet about heating, need to recover from the pain of paying for the insulation

happynz

You got a Kiwi accent, nah-nah nah-nah nah nah.

SarahB

lol.... my 3 year old son calls my friend Wendy..... Windy.... oh dear!

sky

Insulation and double glazing are our priority for our build, can't wait to have warmth indoors again .... and no running rivers down the windows every morning!

RobClubley

Oops, must proof read before hitting alt-S!

cyndi

We are really really happy here, only regret is not making the move years ago. We're still renting, not in any hurry to move yet, but our house is well insulated & warm & we only have a log burner to heat the house. The only thing that bugs me literally is that the house doesn't have fly screens, (& if this damn fly that keeps landing on my arm does not get lost soon aaaarrrggghhh it's dead meat:curse: ) that will be a priority when we do buy.

You know when we bought our liitle old farmhouse in the States 8 yrs ago guess what was the first thing we had to do to it.......... yep insulate there was very little insulation in it. The temps could get to -2o+F in the winter over there.

sky

So what are you saying ... do only british houses have sufficient insulation. Is it something to do with countries being settled and the migrants being HARD!

cyndi

To be honest Sky I don't know what I'm trying to say, just that I don't think it's a problem confined to NZ. I'm older than a lot of people that post on here, & I know when I was a kid in the UK there was no such thing as central heating, but I assume the houses were insulated. I do remember the first job I ever had as a Dental Nurse, the Dentist had the place insulated with that blown in type of insulation, it was a big old Victorian type terraced house. Then moving over to the States I was shocked at how "behind they could be " considering the temps.

It was one of the things that used to scare the hell out of me when we were just thinking of coming over here & reading that the houses could be cold. I can remember talking to my Mum on the phone about it & she replied saying I must have a short memory, because couldn't I remember the days before we had central heating in England, & to quote her " bloody hell, if I could handle a Nebraska winter any where else was going to be easy". I'm not trying to say there aren't cold houses over here because I know there are, but I think due to these forums people should have a wealth of information & not accept any crap.

pixi-dust

I have never lived in a house with double glazing in the uk!! and only for the last couple ( ish) years had central heating - which I didnt put on half the time - and this is in the north of Scotland! I am as hard as nails!

karonious

Bloody Hell Laura, you are well hard!
I come from the Spey valley but I feel the cold really badly (or very well depending on how you look at it!).
That is perhaps because I was kidnapped by aliens and raised in Scotland from an early age. I am originally from Winchester so maybe it is my thin English blood that makes me dread the winter.
My family didn't have central heating when I was a child either. I have a very vivid memory of standing too close too an electric fire one winter and melting my brand new nylon nightie to the back of my leg What a bloody thrashing I got for that as I may have set the house on fire........thanks for your concerns Father!

Boopy

I remember thick ice on the inside of the windows - how did we manage.

pixi-dust

Karon, we used to have this 2 bar heater and I liked lying in front of it and holding a chocolate digestive up really close so that all the chocolate melted and I could lick it off - those were the days!

One winter I got back from Aberdeen to my flat in Glasgow and the bay window was thick with ice on the inside and by the time I got round it and melted it off with my hairdryer the first window had frozen again.

And I had to walk 20 miles to school in my bare feet in a blizzard.

Ok the last one's a lie!!! Maybe this is why I don't find it really cold here in the winter but I did wear a fleece hat for 4 days last year!