RobClubley

True - but those who have done a little research before coming out here should expect that.
It's the way it is here, and all you can do is either be prepared to invest in your property, or put up with it (put a sweater on harden up!! )

coast to coast

Yes,

In Kiwi standards anyway, hunted and hunted for rental house with log burner as we froze last winter, got full insulation to boot. So gets cosy, heat still disappears as soon as heating goes off.
I figure housing standards here are bad for your health.

lapsed kiwi

Exactly, it's hardly a new flash. The cost to insulate and install heating in a house is not that great (compared to the cost of a house - say 2-5%), and in the current market you should easily be able to negotiate a discount at least as much as it will cost.
Personally I'm not that convinced about double glazing, at least not in the Auckland area and northwards. Worth it if you're building from scratch or replacing windows anyway, but we tend to have bedroom windows open at least a crack for most of the year.
I guess renting is a different story, which is one reason why I think selling in the UK and buying here is the best approach. There are some nice modern houses for rent though.

englishheaven

The houses here are just like home. I you lived in The Black Country Museum

Bellasmum

You expecting a response from that small piece of wisdom ?

englishheaven

I couldn't believe it when i was looking at houses to buy and some had open fires as they sole means of heating. Many also still have old rubber coated wiring and galvanised water pipes. Not to mention the corrugated iron roofs. Positively Dickensian my dear.

Bo-Jangles

Whilst I am sure this is true for you being a Kiwi, the average Brit should take your post with a huge pinch of salt and should expect to have to heat their homes in some way for at least six months of the year - May to October.

Anyone (even in the Winterless North) who hasn't needed to use any form of heating prior to the 1st May would be doing really well. That old line about having the heating on five times a year would have to be the single biggest myth of the so-called 'Winterless North' as far as I am concerned. It's about as much use to the average migrant, as the poster who has budget spending $28k per month.

For health and comfort, indoor temperatures should be between 18ºC and 24ºC. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that all living and sleeping areas be maintained at a temperature of at least 16ºC (and preferably 18 ºC).

OSH Recommends offices during winter are maintained at 18 - 22 ºC

My own comfort level puts 18.5ºC as a tad on the chilly side for anything other than the briefest period and I would be then thinking of adding some extra layers and some form of heating.

This week will see the weather cooling off somewhat with an overnight low of just 8ºC predicted for Friday, which is about as cold as it gets on all but the worst of the Winter nights from June to August in Auckland.

I note today the daytime temperatures in the UK are around 10c, so if you want to see how cold that is, go switch your heating off right now. Open all the doors and windows, get undressed, do some normal things you would expect to be able to do in the comfort of your home, go take a shower or have a bath, sit and watch the TV for while and see how you would feel about your home being as 'warm' as that for six months of the year.

Just keeping it REAL!!!

whitesand

New Zealand's the only place I've ever been where I have to pop out for a while to get warm again! And, I live in Auckland.

Kimi-Deacon

Double Glazing, insulation and Gas Heating keep us toastie warm even when its blowing a southerly here And we have been surprised at the Fuel bills thought they were going to be way higher, we pay a fixed monthly price and so far have managed to put ourselves well in credit for the coming winter, but me a being a person who hates the cold i suspect we will be using all the credit.

scrubbedexpat094

I live north of Auckland & strongly agree with Bo-Jangles.

BEVS

I live top of the south island and wonder why these weekly polls have no polls attached.

sparkie down under

eh

BEVS

For you

sparkie down under

there's lovely

Trenchfoot

This is what worries me.

We've been here since December, so all of Summer and now the start of Autumn. Obviously the temperature has been wonderful, shorts and t-shirts every day, doors and windows thrown wide open. And all the long term expats and Kiwis muttering under their breath 'you wait till winter mate'...

I fear we are going to freeze our collective arses off. The house we are renting is a typical Kiwi pad, made of paper mache and balsa wood with corrugated tin foil for a roof. So thin and lightweight are the walls in fact that when our next-door-neighbour farts we can hear Jockey-cloth ripping. And yes, houses are that packed-in on the North Shore!

Then there is the damp to look forward to as well...