Is your place is the coldest in Canberra?

Russ said :

Watson said :

There double glazing is the norm for example. Makes a world of difference and would make even more sense here where we also get hot summers.

It’s important to note that while double- (or triple-) glazing is excellent in winter, it’s a bit of a double-edged sword in summer – double glazing is highly effective at blocking the transfer of ambient, convective heat, but does *nothing* to stop radiant heat (i.e. the sun shining through the window). For that you either need a fancy reflective film on the window, or awnings or some kind of *external* shading device (shade cloth etc.) – curtains don’t work as all they do is heat up and radiate the heat inside.

You must have a laminated glass as one of the panels at the very minimum.

No point having a igu consisting of only toughened or float.

Watson said :

There double glazing is the norm for example. Makes a world of difference and would make even more sense here where we also get hot summers.

It’s important to note that while double- (or triple-) glazing is excellent in winter, it’s a bit of a double-edged sword in summer – double glazing is highly effective at blocking the transfer of ambient, convective heat, but does *nothing* to stop radiant heat (i.e. the sun shining through the window). For that you either need a fancy reflective film on the window, or awnings or some kind of *external* shading device (shade cloth etc.) – curtains don’t work as all they do is heat up and radiate the heat inside.

Watson said :

gentoopenguin said :

Yet we continue to build homes with little insulation or regard to the environment in which they are built….and then complain when the energy bills skyrocket! We’ve got it all backwards here. Places like Germany are about 20 years ahead of us.

What do you mean? All new houses have to have a minimum 6 start energy rating. It would be very hard to achieve that without putting in roof and wall insulation.

I do agree that we’re decades behind on Europe. There double glazing is the norm for example. Makes a world of difference and would make even more sense here where we also get hot summers.

Yeah but it’s incredibly easy to game the system. You can install windows with float glass installed as long as you use enough insulation to reach 6 stars. Most thermal transfer is via flimsy aluminium frames with float glass. What’s the point of insulating the crap out your house if heat/cold just transfers easily through windows?

gentoopenguin said :

Yet we continue to build homes with little insulation or regard to the environment in which they are built….and then complain when the energy bills skyrocket! We’ve got it all backwards here. Places like Germany are about 20 years ahead of us.

What do you mean? All new houses have to have a minimum 6 start energy rating. It would be very hard to achieve that without putting in roof and wall insulation.

I do agree that we’re decades behind on Europe. There double glazing is the norm for example. Makes a world of difference and would make even more sense here where we also get hot summers.

AlexanderWatson said :

Finalists for Coldest House in Canberra have been announced! Check them out and vote online at http://alexanderwatson.com.au/newsite/coldest-house-in-canberra-finalists/

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I couldn’t enter as my fingers won’t work in the cold, and my magic dictation monkey was on a cruise.

Finalists for Coldest House in Canberra have been announced! Check them out and vote online at http://alexanderwatson.com.au/newsite/coldest-house-in-canberra-finalists/

We brought a house 6 years ago built in the 70’s. While it was crap the first few winters with only a wall heater in the living room, My Mum made curtins that where floor length for the living and dining room and long for the bed rooms.

In the 6 years we’ve been here, we have saved up (yes we went without luxuries, like going out clubbing, eating lots of stir fry like dishes and sausages) and have been able to lay hard wood floor boards (as we had floor drafts with the carpet), have wall insulation out in, updated the hot water to gas and put ducted gas heating in.

Now all we need to do it replace the doors so there are no windows in them, update the windows (as they are drafty) to double glazing and put on external shutter blinds.

The heater does not go on til April 25th and 6 months later is turned off. The house is only heated to 18 degrees we sit in trackies, jumpers, socks and slippers and if we are cold, put a blanket over us or go to bed. The heater is on for only a short while in the morning when we get ready for work and does not turn on again until 6pm as we usually finish work around this time and come home to a warm house, which means we can get straight into cooking up dinner (the oven is also a great house warmer).

We are Canberra breed and have lived in Europe and know they are worlds ahead of us. After this season the ‘upgrades’ we have done to our home will have paid for themselves in the savings we have made from our bills!

gentoopenguin said :

Yet we continue to build homes with little insulation or regard to the environment in which they are built….and then complain when the energy bills skyrocket! We’ve got it all backwards here. Places like Germany are about 20 years ahead of us.

^ That.

How about this: declare any owner-occupied home with less than 4 stars as unsuitable for human habitation and limit the allowable rent for any rental property with less than 4 stars to no more than $10 per month.

I thought I had this all sewn up, but it sounds like I’m a helluva lot better off than a lot of other people in this town. At least my olive oil flows freely on the chilliest mornings. 🙂

I do remember living in my sisters place in Kambah around 1993 when we had minus 8 one September morning, and I had to go out with her hair dryer on an extension lead to warm up the pipe where the water came into the house because it had frozen solid.

I agree that much house design in Canberra is atrocious when it comes to heating and cooling. But I’ve spent some terribly cold nights in “Queenslander” houses in Brisbane, which are built on the assumption that it’s blazing hot all year round in QLD, which ain’t necessarily so.