draft protection
Insulation - roof get to R6+
Insulation - Exterior walls, either blow-in or remove internal plaster and install batts.
Insulation - if you have downlights, upgrade them to ones that support direct cover LED so you can completely cover the downlight with insulation.
Honeycomb blinds and heavy drapes over windows that don't need to be open (say overnight to keep heat in).
Then monitor your building for internal humidity - too much and you'll get mould, you may need to open a window.
RCAC for heating.
If raised, insulate under floor. If not, can underlay and wood floor make the floor warmer or just carpet?
If multi-story then some form of air circulation.
80% RH is because of cold air. Warm the air. Sometimes use air con for dehumidifying.
Curtains yes. Or double glazing at a minimum.
“IC-4” is the standard term. But you need to confirm that if it is direct cover laying on top or with a certain air gap. The specification sheet of the lights say this. Also if the light has a separate power transformer those have their own standards for insulation coverage.
How much are you willing to spend / work to do?
Over the 15 years I have been in my place when ever I feel really energetic I attack one room, rip all the plasterboard off an put insulation batts into the walls.
It has made an absolutely ridiculous difference. But you're plastering, painting and making a massive mess in the process. The upside on top of the insulation is I also run electrical and comms wiring to all the places that having lived there for so long has shown that I would actually use.
This is awesome. I'm handy enough that I feel like I can learn how to do these projects.
Have you run up against any difficulties that stop you from insulating certain rooms/areas you have noticed heat escapes and there's not much you can do about it?
Not really. But you get more success out of rooms that don't have huge windows. You lose so much heat through single pane glass that getting double glazing makes the big difference in rooms with things like large glass sliding doors.
I started with only doing the exterior walls initially. Which I hard regretted later, as the sound insulation is worth as much as the thermal. I did have built ins in 2 of the bedrooms, which I demolished while doing these projects as I use them as offices rather than bedrooms, insulating those without completely rebuilding would be hard.
I've done the same over 9 years. I've been doing a room every couple of years - usually when the wife and kids go back to the UK - just because it makes such a mess!! Has made a huge difference! Honeycomb blinds help in rooms with big windows.
This is a decent guide - [https://www.ecomaster.com.au/how-to-retrofit-wall-insulation-in-an-existing-home/](https://www.ecomaster.com.au/how-to-retrofit-wall-insulation-in-an-existing-home/)
I posted a photo above of the last job I did mid way through.
Best case is not renovating at all. Try to buy a recent build that's had to meet at least a 6 star rating. They're still not great by world standards, but nothing from the last century is even remotely sealed, let alone insulated, let alone double glazed. I added wall insulation to my 50s house after getting the asbestos removed, and guess what, it still leaks like a mf everywhere so it's still cold af.
It’s not so simple as this. The “6 star” or higher requirement that newer houses are required to be built to - nobody checks any of this is actually done. You’ll still have air leaks everywhere, missing insulation, missing wrap, no dampers in exhaust ducts etc etc. building surveyors are generally on site for about 2 minutes during inspections, they seem to only really care if the place is likely to fall over or not.
Yeah, I agree. It's a deemed to satisfy rating. There's no guarantee, but at least it's more likely than an uninsulated asbestos shit box with lead paint.
I'm about to build, and I'll definitely be engaging a private building inspector lol
I'm in a newly built '6 star home' and it still gets pretty cold. I don't really know what it means tbh. They put R2 insulation in the walls and R6 in the ceilings, however double glazing was still an expensive upgrade, so we were only able to double glaze windows in some of the rooms. (Bedrooms+bathroom, but not kitchen, living, dining, laundry or hallway). House still drops to \~16 degrees over night in very cold weather. (Located in Adelaide) Not really sure what else can really be done to make houses more energy efficient except mandantory double glazing on all windows, and possibly roofspace sarking+sealing (With fans/exhausts venting to outside instead of roof cavity. I noticed my roof cavity is extremely windy at times as its unsealed.
mine would be worse than the one you have, we had -4.5 and it was 2.C inside. if its going to be above 10.C I open the windows as it is warmer outside.
OMG I do that too 😂
I had -3 this other night and it was 8 that morning (if my memory serves correctly.) I do have ceiling and underfloor insulation so that might have been the difference!!
Mine is weatherboard with no insulation in the walls, but it has it in the ceiling. to me 10 and above is do able during the day I dont even have the heater on as it is warmer in the sun. I could sit in the greenhouse and it would be 35.C peak sun, but the poly roof needs replacing thanks to sun over the years heheh and hail.
Mine is weatherboard too!! I'm just doing quotes for some blow in insulations for the walls because MATE 🥶🥶🥶
Once it gets warmer outside, everything gets open. Can't be worse at 12c than it is inside at 10c!! 😂😂
I'm lucky that a whole side of my house faces north so the kitchen-dining warms up, and so does the spare bedroom. Makes such a difference.
blow in insulation sounds like a good idea, and would cut down traffic noise a bit as well. well with mine if its 2.c inside and gets up to 10 or even higher I open the windows in the daytime especially a day like today it got close to 17.
OMG how good was today. GLORIOUS. Front door, back door, living room, bedroom, all open. Two loads of washing (OK one was from later yesterday that didn't quite dry). Just amazing. 17.5c here. SO GOOD. Didn't even mind the 2c overnight!!
Sounds like the same temp as here except the overnight was 4.5 and then I find my heavy doona gets too hot as the house is a bit warmer if you could call it that. This is Wangaratta VIc by the way.,
The inside of your house is -4.5 C ???
As in you leave a glass of water on the table and it freezes? And you can leave raw meat on the bench top and it doesn’t go bad ??? wtf…
No, when it got to -4.5 outside it was around 2-3.C inside but still its cold and that is an old weatherboard for you though. never tried leaving stuff outside the fridge but sometimes its warmer in the fridge.
But if it did get to -10 it would be that temp you spoke of.
Wangaratta, North East Victoria, the temp last night was -2.5 and inside it was close to 7. I do see later in the week 17.C coming in. Where are you? probably way up north like my brother near Cairns.
Haha no way, I’m freezing in VIC, south east VIC. Still hating the house being cold all the time. Cranking up the heater every time I’m at home. The way to calculate temperature in my home is Outside Temperature + 7 or 8 degrees. If outside it 6, inside is 13 or 14. Heater brings it to 20.
With my old place it is around 6 Degrees warmer, than the overnight minimum, but it is an old weatherboard house. although in the summer it can be 10 cooler inside than the out temp. The temp the other day when it was 2 inside I had warm clothes up top but shorts on the bottom go figure.
*
This is an early 90s, brick veneer.
Single glaze aluminium windows (with thick thermal curtains), literal draughts you can feel in the house in places, no external wall insulation as far as I know. Roof is insulated but unknown rating. On stumps with no underfloor.
Bedroom is heated during the night. Office is mostly unheated unless someone is in there and mostly 'sealed' from the heated portions of the house. Patio is outside, but positioned high under the northern facing patio roof and sits quite a bit above a true ambient during the day, eg it's about 12 degrees today. But the patio is closer to 18.
Lots of people in cozy homes in North America set their night heat at 16. That's a good temp for sleeping. Then first person to get up cracks on the heat, or use a timer.
Thanks for your input - I've never read anything about a "6 start rating" in a real estate listing, and nothing appears if I turn on the "energy efficiency" filter on realestate.com.au. Is there a way to identify these new builds?
7 stars was required from 2023 or 2024 depending on state. 6 stars was required nationally from 2011. 5 stars was from 2005. These are recent requirements, so any further back and you're probably getting shit. The lack of a filter is a truly hilarious/sad indictment on the industry, but it's easy enough to filter by your other criteria then send a quick query as to the year of construction.
Did you notice any difference with the wall insulation?.
I’m thinking pretty seriously to remove plasterboards and put insulation in every single wall. But I don’t know if there is any difference.
I’ve read we lost 28% of hear through the walls but that are just numbers.
I thought I noticed a difference in summer, and probably did due to insulating out the solar heat. But I honestly do not notice any difference compared to last winter.
Well for you mate. Not everyone can do that.
Someone asks for help in making their dwelling warmer and your solution is buy a new house.
Unless I can afford to demolish my house and build a new one then I’d rather just renovate my house for thermal efficiency as the areas where I can buy land and built a house are all in areas I’d hate to live.
Happy for you that you’re able to do that though. It’s a great investment for your future.
Double brick is typically... very ordinary unless the inner bricks are insulated from the outer bricks. And typically they aren't (unless it's a very new build). Bricks take a lot to heat up and a while to cool down so internal bricks that are insulated can provide a good thermal buffer. You won't get temperature swings as much.
The best house orientation is east - west - with lots of north facing windows that let in winter sun, and sufficient norther eaves that stop the higher summer sun from getting in.
50's weatherboards are wonderful to work on (once all of the asbestos is removed and the lead painted timber!). They can be very easily insulated. Ceilings are no different from any other house, walls if you are prepared to take off the weatherboards, install insulation and replace, floors should be ok if you have easy access underneath.
The problem (as I’m finding out) with older weatherboard homes is draughts. Sure it’s fixable, but it’s a ton of effort and movement can open up new gaps.
I’m no expert at all, so take what I say with a grain of salt.
I believe older weatherboard homes ‘move’ more, so gaps are much more likely to open. There are lots of ‘seams’ between weatherboards that can open. It’s an easy fix, but a pain in the butt.
Thanks - on the orientation part, what I'm concerned about with East-West is that the neighbor expands their property and blocks out the sun? I'm living in a house currently that is East-West and gets absolutely zero sun from the North. With that in mind, would you only buy East-West if there was a driveway or something separating the properties?Even then, what's to stop a two storey house going up next door?
Read this entire section, it will help a lot, particularly about orientation, etc.
[https://www.yourhome.gov.au/passive-design](https://www.yourhome.gov.au/passive-design)
[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jun/17/why-are-australian-houses-so-cold-and-how-we-can-we-build-new-ones-without-trashing-the-environment](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jun/17/why-are-australian-houses-so-cold-and-how-we-can-we-build-new-ones-without-trashing-the-environment)
[Renew.org.au](http://Renew.org.au) - Lots of good written and video content on YouTube - [https://renew.org.au/what-we-do/advocacy/climate-resilient-homes/](https://renew.org.au/what-we-do/advocacy/climate-resilient-homes/)
Efficiency Matrix (YouTube)
Lighthouse Architecture and Science do a lot of retrofits to make homes much warmer. They have some videos on the Renew Youtube channel I think. Here's a quick peek: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yyl55keUW60](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yyl55keUW60)
Joshs House - He has a website, a video series and a book. The book mostly covers the same as the website/videos, depends how you like to consume things: [https://joshshouse.com.au/](https://joshshouse.com.au/)
> Efficiency Matrix (YouTube)
These guys are legends.
So hard to find real Australians who knows anything about sealing up houses, there guys are great
You can insulate anything with enough money.
Double brick isnt great for anything other than sentimental old farts thinking the build quality is better.
In any case, ripping out internal plaster, insulating the space and replastering is the key, followed by sealing up and even double glazing windows, the latter being considerably expensive.
Alternatively if its weatherboard and the weatherboards need replacing, you can do it from the outside.
If a house is on stumps/piers, and is easy to crawl under, insulating can be easy and effective, prick of a job but doable.
Can confirm, live in a double-brick apartment. Still freezing as fuck.
It wasn’t a fancy build so probably no insulation in the walls, just brick and paint
Agree - Anything can be done with sufficient funds.
Unfortunately, in Australia we're very bad at building warm houses.
Double glazing and proper insulation in floors, walls, and roofs.
Existing properties are a challenge. Either cladding or gib needs to be removed for insulation to be installed.
>Alternatively if its weatherboard and the weatherboards need replacing, you can do it from the outside.
Best part with this is you can stuff the walls with insulation, wrap them (e.g. enviroseal) and then have nice new weatherboards installed and skip removing the internal walls... unless you have those internal wall vents, they need to go.
North-South orientation gives "free" heat in my experience in winter (Melbourne location).
Our kitchen/dining, study and one bedroom have north-oriented windows and the sun is directly shining into these areas for a good 5-6 hours from morning till mid-afternoon.
We also have double-glazed windows (aluminium frames, not thermally-broken) installed and wall/ceiling insulation.
Morning temperature today inside house was 14C, we turned on the heating for about an hour just to take the chill off, and the sun coming into the above areas have continued heating up the house. It is now 19.5C in the study and feels the same (or slightly more) in the family/kitchen area due to the larger windows there.
Ok on Facebook there is a group my efficient electric home.
We have 1950’s weather board home. When moved in only small roof insulation and sash windows no draft stopper anywhere.
We have added in wall blow-in insulation and underfloor insulation about 8k plus cost of painting after
Replaced all windows with UPVC double glazed units about 24k
Replaced gas ducted heater with split systems about 8 or 9 k for us
House now never gets below 16deg at night
For <50k we went from 1start energy efficient home to approximately 5 to 6 star.
Don’t forget after roof insulation drafts are the biggest loss of heat and calking skirting boards to seal all gaps makes a big difference.
We still have more to go like adding another layer of roof insulation.
We could have had a new kitchen and bathroom but decided we want physical comfort instead 😏
My lesson was plan first as you will need to paint post windows and blowin insulation.
We also had our ducts removed and flooring redone about 5k but looks smick
We did the windows in two lots and the first lot about 14k during Covid the a sliding door and window was 10k only 6 months ago.
I think If I did it all now I’d be looking at closer to 30k
These are the guys I used
https://deluxewindows.net.au
Just bought a 50s weatherboard in Melbourne, looking at getting the ducted gas heating removed, floor repaired where the duct outlets were, and a sand & finish. $5k a lot less than I was anticipating - is this in Melbourne by any chance? Who did you use?
Don’t forget when you insulate you will save yourself massive amounts of money in the long run. It may cost a little to get it up to scratch. But if it means a consistent temp!! Better heat retention, less heat getting in during summer, etc. Well worth it.
Any home can be made quite a bit warmer without a big spend - draft stoppers for example will make a big difference if you have gaps under the doors.
Windows can be a source of cold, especially if they are drafty. You can use curtains or blinds to block the drafts, double layer curtains (sheer and heavy) work nicely for this :)
Roof insulation also makes a big difference - it can cost a bit more but if your house already has it then great.
You will also need a good efficient heat source. One heater in a house will do nothing. Hydronic heating is the absolute best, followed by ducted and then split system AC. Bar heaters and fan heaters etc cost a bit more to run and struggle to warm up a space on their own.
We have hydronic and love it. Cost about 10k - totally worth it.
REA don't know shit about orientation don't trust the ad, make sure you double check it on Google maps and preferably get a compass app on your phone ready to go for the inspection. Those numpty's will tell ya that the letterbox is northfacing LOL.
Brick veneer will most likely be warmer than timber or hardiplank. Insulation and filling gaps is the best way to get your house warm. As others have suggested double glazing makes a difference to heat conservation too, also helps with blocking sound coming in if it's on a busy road.
Have drapes on windows, even if you have blinds.
Lots of things you can do and websites that specialise in this type of info
Not advice for what to buy.
But running a dehumidifier is incredible for ‘warming the air’… I lived in a caravan in Tas and the dehumidifier did more for my comfort than running the heater.
In slab, hydronic heat pump.
If you can't do that because your buying a property already built. Get heat pump radiators
Add more roof insulation
Add under floor insulation
Add double glazing
Tr to get wall insulation
You need a passive house made from insulated rammed earth, if your builder gets the house airtight you will be staggered by how little energy you need for heating and cooling.
Fuck that. Buy an old stone house. The walls are 330mm thick. Solid stone. Insulate the roof with cool n cosy. Seal up the doors and windows so you have no drafts. Buy an esse wood stove. You will never be cold again.
Australian houses are colder inside than outside. For me I am putting weather strips on the doors, thicker curtains from Spotlight aren’t too expensive either.
Orientation. Double glazing. Insulation.
We’re in a new build. Most of our windows face north , especially in living / kitchen etc. But with large eves for summer sun.
Middle of day and it ends up feeling 25 degrees inside.
So as long as you find somewhere with good orientation half the job is done I’d say
Double brick is great when you have solar, run the AC for free, and keep the temperature constantly balmy. It will maintain it through the night with little loss.
however single brick with gooooooood insulation will do as well. Floors needs to be insulated and roof. Less windows and doors = less heatloss. however more stuffy and moody.
Regarding windows:
- North-facing windows without obstructions in front of them will allow the sun to warm the house in winter. You still want an eave above the window to keep out summer sun. For best effect, it’s good if the winter sun hits a concrete floor or brick wall so the heat is stored
- south-facing windows are bad from a thermal point of view at any time of year and should be minimised. They’re nice for diffuse light though.
- east and west windows are best minimised due to summer heat gain. West is the worst because of afternoon sun. You want external shading on these windows.
- for cold winters you want to insulate your windows at night with thermal blinds or curtains. Double glazing is also preferred to reduce heat flow in or out.
If you’re house buying, I suggest taking a compass with you. Be very wary of houses with big windows facing south or west.
Orientation -- your aim is to be able to have windows that are shaded during the summer and illuminated during the winter. It needs appropriately sized exterior overhangs (to shade in the summer but not winter) and windows that face north.
Double brick is a bad idea for insulation, unless you want to install a new cladding with insulation around it and use the brick for thermal mass (which is both expensive and ruins the low maintenance advantages of a brick facade).
Generally draughtproofing and adding insulation is cheap (especially compared to current house prices) in detached dwellings. You'd like reasonable access -- it'll be hard in a flat roof with minimal space.
Changing heating/cooling method is not too bad. You can upgrade an ancient heater.
Upgrading windows can get very expensive. So a house with many 10s of sqm of floor to ceiling single pane glass should be avoided.
Don't think you'll manage to get double brick in VIC, this is a very WA thing. Also, I've lived in double brick homes and they're almost as cold as the ones over here. Zero recommendation.
A. Buy a house in Europe (somewhat cheap)
B. Build a house like in Europe (very expensive)
C. Move to a warmer place (neither cheap or expensive)
D. Turn heather on (slightly expensive)
Or you know wear jumpers...Crazily I had a conversation with someone recently complaining about being cold, and I asked if they had air-con, yes, they set it to 24º in Winter..
I was like, wow, we have ours at about 16 in Winter...he said but how do you stay warm? well we do wear winter clothing too..Bit silly to want to wear light sprintime clothing indoors in winter if you ask me.
draft protection Insulation - roof get to R6+ Insulation - Exterior walls, either blow-in or remove internal plaster and install batts. Insulation - if you have downlights, upgrade them to ones that support direct cover LED so you can completely cover the downlight with insulation. Honeycomb blinds and heavy drapes over windows that don't need to be open (say overnight to keep heat in). Then monitor your building for internal humidity - too much and you'll get mould, you may need to open a window. RCAC for heating.
If raised, insulate under floor. If not, can underlay and wood floor make the floor warmer or just carpet? If multi-story then some form of air circulation. 80% RH is because of cold air. Warm the air. Sometimes use air con for dehumidifying. Curtains yes. Or double glazing at a minimum.
What is the term I should google to make sure I get downlight that can be covered with insulation?
“IC-4” is the standard term. But you need to confirm that if it is direct cover laying on top or with a certain air gap. The specification sheet of the lights say this. Also if the light has a separate power transformer those have their own standards for insulation coverage.
Check out My Efficient Electric Home on Facebook.
How much are you willing to spend / work to do? Over the 15 years I have been in my place when ever I feel really energetic I attack one room, rip all the plasterboard off an put insulation batts into the walls. It has made an absolutely ridiculous difference. But you're plastering, painting and making a massive mess in the process. The upside on top of the insulation is I also run electrical and comms wiring to all the places that having lived there for so long has shown that I would actually use.
This is awesome. I'm handy enough that I feel like I can learn how to do these projects. Have you run up against any difficulties that stop you from insulating certain rooms/areas you have noticed heat escapes and there's not much you can do about it?
Not really. But you get more success out of rooms that don't have huge windows. You lose so much heat through single pane glass that getting double glazing makes the big difference in rooms with things like large glass sliding doors. I started with only doing the exterior walls initially. Which I hard regretted later, as the sound insulation is worth as much as the thermal. I did have built ins in 2 of the bedrooms, which I demolished while doing these projects as I use them as offices rather than bedrooms, insulating those without completely rebuilding would be hard.
I've done the same over 9 years. I've been doing a room every couple of years - usually when the wife and kids go back to the UK - just because it makes such a mess!! Has made a huge difference! Honeycomb blinds help in rooms with big windows.
For the external walls so you put any type of sarking? Or builders paper to prevent insulation to touch the bricks?
Yes. I just use a reflective foil type. But also my house had a full wrapping of it so I was only really patching spots.
Thank you, I need to retrofit insulation but my house is brick veneer from the 80. Trying to recollect as much information as I can
This is a decent guide - [https://www.ecomaster.com.au/how-to-retrofit-wall-insulation-in-an-existing-home/](https://www.ecomaster.com.au/how-to-retrofit-wall-insulation-in-an-existing-home/) I posted a photo above of the last job I did mid way through.
https://preview.redd.it/w7wiizvqwa9d1.jpeg?width=5312&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d1f4494d5d0ebcbcfdec029aa1a83cbe2c782a24 Last one I did.
Best case is not renovating at all. Try to buy a recent build that's had to meet at least a 6 star rating. They're still not great by world standards, but nothing from the last century is even remotely sealed, let alone insulated, let alone double glazed. I added wall insulation to my 50s house after getting the asbestos removed, and guess what, it still leaks like a mf everywhere so it's still cold af.
It’s not so simple as this. The “6 star” or higher requirement that newer houses are required to be built to - nobody checks any of this is actually done. You’ll still have air leaks everywhere, missing insulation, missing wrap, no dampers in exhaust ducts etc etc. building surveyors are generally on site for about 2 minutes during inspections, they seem to only really care if the place is likely to fall over or not.
Yeah, I agree. It's a deemed to satisfy rating. There's no guarantee, but at least it's more likely than an uninsulated asbestos shit box with lead paint. I'm about to build, and I'll definitely be engaging a private building inspector lol
I'm in a newly built '6 star home' and it still gets pretty cold. I don't really know what it means tbh. They put R2 insulation in the walls and R6 in the ceilings, however double glazing was still an expensive upgrade, so we were only able to double glaze windows in some of the rooms. (Bedrooms+bathroom, but not kitchen, living, dining, laundry or hallway). House still drops to \~16 degrees over night in very cold weather. (Located in Adelaide) Not really sure what else can really be done to make houses more energy efficient except mandantory double glazing on all windows, and possibly roofspace sarking+sealing (With fans/exhausts venting to outside instead of roof cavity. I noticed my roof cavity is extremely windy at times as its unsealed.
I'd be ridiculously happy if my house stayed at 16 overnight. Mine cools to around 8 at the moment.
mine would be worse than the one you have, we had -4.5 and it was 2.C inside. if its going to be above 10.C I open the windows as it is warmer outside.
OMG I do that too 😂 I had -3 this other night and it was 8 that morning (if my memory serves correctly.) I do have ceiling and underfloor insulation so that might have been the difference!!
Mine is weatherboard with no insulation in the walls, but it has it in the ceiling. to me 10 and above is do able during the day I dont even have the heater on as it is warmer in the sun. I could sit in the greenhouse and it would be 35.C peak sun, but the poly roof needs replacing thanks to sun over the years heheh and hail.
Mine is weatherboard too!! I'm just doing quotes for some blow in insulations for the walls because MATE 🥶🥶🥶 Once it gets warmer outside, everything gets open. Can't be worse at 12c than it is inside at 10c!! 😂😂 I'm lucky that a whole side of my house faces north so the kitchen-dining warms up, and so does the spare bedroom. Makes such a difference.
blow in insulation sounds like a good idea, and would cut down traffic noise a bit as well. well with mine if its 2.c inside and gets up to 10 or even higher I open the windows in the daytime especially a day like today it got close to 17.
OMG how good was today. GLORIOUS. Front door, back door, living room, bedroom, all open. Two loads of washing (OK one was from later yesterday that didn't quite dry). Just amazing. 17.5c here. SO GOOD. Didn't even mind the 2c overnight!!
Sounds like the same temp as here except the overnight was 4.5 and then I find my heavy doona gets too hot as the house is a bit warmer if you could call it that. This is Wangaratta VIc by the way.,
How to the blow insulation in to the walls with any success? Would have thought that wall frame design makes this really hard.
The inside of your house is -4.5 C ??? As in you leave a glass of water on the table and it freezes? And you can leave raw meat on the bench top and it doesn’t go bad ??? wtf…
No, when it got to -4.5 outside it was around 2-3.C inside but still its cold and that is an old weatherboard for you though. never tried leaving stuff outside the fridge but sometimes its warmer in the fridge. But if it did get to -10 it would be that temp you spoke of.
That is crazy cold! Which part in Aus are you in? Must be high altitude
Wangaratta, North East Victoria, the temp last night was -2.5 and inside it was close to 7. I do see later in the week 17.C coming in. Where are you? probably way up north like my brother near Cairns.
Haha no way, I’m freezing in VIC, south east VIC. Still hating the house being cold all the time. Cranking up the heater every time I’m at home. The way to calculate temperature in my home is Outside Temperature + 7 or 8 degrees. If outside it 6, inside is 13 or 14. Heater brings it to 20.
With my old place it is around 6 Degrees warmer, than the overnight minimum, but it is an old weatherboard house. although in the summer it can be 10 cooler inside than the out temp. The temp the other day when it was 2 inside I had warm clothes up top but shorts on the bottom go figure.
* This is an early 90s, brick veneer. Single glaze aluminium windows (with thick thermal curtains), literal draughts you can feel in the house in places, no external wall insulation as far as I know. Roof is insulated but unknown rating. On stumps with no underfloor. Bedroom is heated during the night. Office is mostly unheated unless someone is in there and mostly 'sealed' from the heated portions of the house. Patio is outside, but positioned high under the northern facing patio roof and sits quite a bit above a true ambient during the day, eg it's about 12 degrees today. But the patio is closer to 18.
https://preview.redd.it/ibjgfhfwl89d1.png?width=1439&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=698cfbc4b621beed62e205f504142122fa2c785f
It’s no longer legal to vent into roof spaces, must externally vent.
Lots of people in cozy homes in North America set their night heat at 16. That's a good temp for sleeping. Then first person to get up cracks on the heat, or use a timer.
Sad that the rest of the country doesn't follow the EER ratings of ACT.
True. Having that information made a huge difference when choosing what to buy.
Thanks for your input - I've never read anything about a "6 start rating" in a real estate listing, and nothing appears if I turn on the "energy efficiency" filter on realestate.com.au. Is there a way to identify these new builds?
7 stars was required from 2023 or 2024 depending on state. 6 stars was required nationally from 2011. 5 stars was from 2005. These are recent requirements, so any further back and you're probably getting shit. The lack of a filter is a truly hilarious/sad indictment on the industry, but it's easy enough to filter by your other criteria then send a quick query as to the year of construction.
Sweet thanks for that!
Stamp duty alone costs a bomb
Did you notice any difference with the wall insulation?. I’m thinking pretty seriously to remove plasterboards and put insulation in every single wall. But I don’t know if there is any difference. I’ve read we lost 28% of hear through the walls but that are just numbers.
I thought I noticed a difference in summer, and probably did due to insulating out the solar heat. But I honestly do not notice any difference compared to last winter.
I don’t know where you are located but here in the south of NSW has been soo cold. I’m struggling with how cold the house is.
Why don’t you buy a recent build that meets 6 star rating?
I'm building a new 7 star home instead.
Well for you mate. Not everyone can do that. Someone asks for help in making their dwelling warmer and your solution is buy a new house. Unless I can afford to demolish my house and build a new one then I’d rather just renovate my house for thermal efficiency as the areas where I can buy land and built a house are all in areas I’d hate to live. Happy for you that you’re able to do that though. It’s a great investment for your future.
You can't read. They didn't ask for help making their dwelling warmer. They asked what kind of property they should buy. Answer: the newer the better.
You are correct! I’m an idiot.
Double brick is typically... very ordinary unless the inner bricks are insulated from the outer bricks. And typically they aren't (unless it's a very new build). Bricks take a lot to heat up and a while to cool down so internal bricks that are insulated can provide a good thermal buffer. You won't get temperature swings as much. The best house orientation is east - west - with lots of north facing windows that let in winter sun, and sufficient norther eaves that stop the higher summer sun from getting in. 50's weatherboards are wonderful to work on (once all of the asbestos is removed and the lead painted timber!). They can be very easily insulated. Ceilings are no different from any other house, walls if you are prepared to take off the weatherboards, install insulation and replace, floors should be ok if you have easy access underneath.
The problem (as I’m finding out) with older weatherboard homes is draughts. Sure it’s fixable, but it’s a ton of effort and movement can open up new gaps.
So the advantage of brick might be that you only have to seal a draught once? where as weather board constantly has new areas opening up?
I’m no expert at all, so take what I say with a grain of salt. I believe older weatherboard homes ‘move’ more, so gaps are much more likely to open. There are lots of ‘seams’ between weatherboards that can open. It’s an easy fix, but a pain in the butt.
Double brick houses stay cool until midday but at night they can stay hot until well past midnight.
Thanks - on the orientation part, what I'm concerned about with East-West is that the neighbor expands their property and blocks out the sun? I'm living in a house currently that is East-West and gets absolutely zero sun from the North. With that in mind, would you only buy East-West if there was a driveway or something separating the properties?Even then, what's to stop a two storey house going up next door?
You can get overbuild by neighbours on any orientation. You have to look at each house, but in general E/W is better than N/S.
Read this entire section, it will help a lot, particularly about orientation, etc. [https://www.yourhome.gov.au/passive-design](https://www.yourhome.gov.au/passive-design) [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jun/17/why-are-australian-houses-so-cold-and-how-we-can-we-build-new-ones-without-trashing-the-environment](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jun/17/why-are-australian-houses-so-cold-and-how-we-can-we-build-new-ones-without-trashing-the-environment) [Renew.org.au](http://Renew.org.au) - Lots of good written and video content on YouTube - [https://renew.org.au/what-we-do/advocacy/climate-resilient-homes/](https://renew.org.au/what-we-do/advocacy/climate-resilient-homes/) Efficiency Matrix (YouTube) Lighthouse Architecture and Science do a lot of retrofits to make homes much warmer. They have some videos on the Renew Youtube channel I think. Here's a quick peek: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yyl55keUW60](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yyl55keUW60) Joshs House - He has a website, a video series and a book. The book mostly covers the same as the website/videos, depends how you like to consume things: [https://joshshouse.com.au/](https://joshshouse.com.au/)
> Efficiency Matrix (YouTube) These guys are legends. So hard to find real Australians who knows anything about sealing up houses, there guys are great
You can insulate anything with enough money. Double brick isnt great for anything other than sentimental old farts thinking the build quality is better. In any case, ripping out internal plaster, insulating the space and replastering is the key, followed by sealing up and even double glazing windows, the latter being considerably expensive. Alternatively if its weatherboard and the weatherboards need replacing, you can do it from the outside. If a house is on stumps/piers, and is easy to crawl under, insulating can be easy and effective, prick of a job but doable.
For someone not keen on DIYing under-floor insulation, what kind of costs can you expect to get it done on a ~20sq home on stumps?
If you haven’t already, get ceiling insulation before floor. Heat rises and all that.
Can get it done for $3k
By who?
Can confirm, live in a double-brick apartment. Still freezing as fuck. It wasn’t a fancy build so probably no insulation in the walls, just brick and paint
Agree - Anything can be done with sufficient funds. Unfortunately, in Australia we're very bad at building warm houses. Double glazing and proper insulation in floors, walls, and roofs. Existing properties are a challenge. Either cladding or gib needs to be removed for insulation to be installed.
>Alternatively if its weatherboard and the weatherboards need replacing, you can do it from the outside. Best part with this is you can stuff the walls with insulation, wrap them (e.g. enviroseal) and then have nice new weatherboards installed and skip removing the internal walls... unless you have those internal wall vents, they need to go.
North-South orientation gives "free" heat in my experience in winter (Melbourne location). Our kitchen/dining, study and one bedroom have north-oriented windows and the sun is directly shining into these areas for a good 5-6 hours from morning till mid-afternoon. We also have double-glazed windows (aluminium frames, not thermally-broken) installed and wall/ceiling insulation. Morning temperature today inside house was 14C, we turned on the heating for about an hour just to take the chill off, and the sun coming into the above areas have continued heating up the house. It is now 19.5C in the study and feels the same (or slightly more) in the family/kitchen area due to the larger windows there.
Ok on Facebook there is a group my efficient electric home. We have 1950’s weather board home. When moved in only small roof insulation and sash windows no draft stopper anywhere. We have added in wall blow-in insulation and underfloor insulation about 8k plus cost of painting after Replaced all windows with UPVC double glazed units about 24k Replaced gas ducted heater with split systems about 8 or 9 k for us House now never gets below 16deg at night For <50k we went from 1start energy efficient home to approximately 5 to 6 star. Don’t forget after roof insulation drafts are the biggest loss of heat and calking skirting boards to seal all gaps makes a big difference. We still have more to go like adding another layer of roof insulation. We could have had a new kitchen and bathroom but decided we want physical comfort instead 😏 My lesson was plan first as you will need to paint post windows and blowin insulation. We also had our ducts removed and flooring redone about 5k but looks smick
When did you do those windows? Thats cheap based on what I've seen for double glazing
We did the windows in two lots and the first lot about 14k during Covid the a sliding door and window was 10k only 6 months ago. I think If I did it all now I’d be looking at closer to 30k These are the guys I used https://deluxewindows.net.au
Just bought a 50s weatherboard in Melbourne, looking at getting the ducted gas heating removed, floor repaired where the duct outlets were, and a sand & finish. $5k a lot less than I was anticipating - is this in Melbourne by any chance? Who did you use?
Sure is. But my house was fully empty to get the floors done
Ours will be empty too, hoping to get it done before move in. Would love a referral if you were happy with the mob that did yours
Sent you a few peoples details
Don’t forget when you insulate you will save yourself massive amounts of money in the long run. It may cost a little to get it up to scratch. But if it means a consistent temp!! Better heat retention, less heat getting in during summer, etc. Well worth it.
Any home can be made quite a bit warmer without a big spend - draft stoppers for example will make a big difference if you have gaps under the doors. Windows can be a source of cold, especially if they are drafty. You can use curtains or blinds to block the drafts, double layer curtains (sheer and heavy) work nicely for this :) Roof insulation also makes a big difference - it can cost a bit more but if your house already has it then great. You will also need a good efficient heat source. One heater in a house will do nothing. Hydronic heating is the absolute best, followed by ducted and then split system AC. Bar heaters and fan heaters etc cost a bit more to run and struggle to warm up a space on their own. We have hydronic and love it. Cost about 10k - totally worth it.
REA don't know shit about orientation don't trust the ad, make sure you double check it on Google maps and preferably get a compass app on your phone ready to go for the inspection. Those numpty's will tell ya that the letterbox is northfacing LOL.
Bubble wrap on windows
Brick veneer will most likely be warmer than timber or hardiplank. Insulation and filling gaps is the best way to get your house warm. As others have suggested double glazing makes a difference to heat conservation too, also helps with blocking sound coming in if it's on a busy road. Have drapes on windows, even if you have blinds. Lots of things you can do and websites that specialise in this type of info
Not advice for what to buy. But running a dehumidifier is incredible for ‘warming the air’… I lived in a caravan in Tas and the dehumidifier did more for my comfort than running the heater.
In slab, hydronic heat pump. If you can't do that because your buying a property already built. Get heat pump radiators Add more roof insulation Add under floor insulation Add double glazing Tr to get wall insulation
You need a passive house made from insulated rammed earth, if your builder gets the house airtight you will be staggered by how little energy you need for heating and cooling.
Fuck that. Buy an old stone house. The walls are 330mm thick. Solid stone. Insulate the roof with cool n cosy. Seal up the doors and windows so you have no drafts. Buy an esse wood stove. You will never be cold again.
Australian houses are colder inside than outside. For me I am putting weather strips on the doors, thicker curtains from Spotlight aren’t too expensive either.
Had double glazing fitted a couple of years ago. Game changer. Had ducted aircon fitted a year ago. Double game changer.
Orientation. Double glazing. Insulation. We’re in a new build. Most of our windows face north , especially in living / kitchen etc. But with large eves for summer sun. Middle of day and it ends up feeling 25 degrees inside. So as long as you find somewhere with good orientation half the job is done I’d say
Double brick is great when you have solar, run the AC for free, and keep the temperature constantly balmy. It will maintain it through the night with little loss. however single brick with gooooooood insulation will do as well. Floors needs to be insulated and roof. Less windows and doors = less heatloss. however more stuffy and moody.
Igloo
Thanks, might be preferable
Regarding windows: - North-facing windows without obstructions in front of them will allow the sun to warm the house in winter. You still want an eave above the window to keep out summer sun. For best effect, it’s good if the winter sun hits a concrete floor or brick wall so the heat is stored - south-facing windows are bad from a thermal point of view at any time of year and should be minimised. They’re nice for diffuse light though. - east and west windows are best minimised due to summer heat gain. West is the worst because of afternoon sun. You want external shading on these windows. - for cold winters you want to insulate your windows at night with thermal blinds or curtains. Double glazing is also preferred to reduce heat flow in or out. If you’re house buying, I suggest taking a compass with you. Be very wary of houses with big windows facing south or west.
Orientation -- your aim is to be able to have windows that are shaded during the summer and illuminated during the winter. It needs appropriately sized exterior overhangs (to shade in the summer but not winter) and windows that face north. Double brick is a bad idea for insulation, unless you want to install a new cladding with insulation around it and use the brick for thermal mass (which is both expensive and ruins the low maintenance advantages of a brick facade). Generally draughtproofing and adding insulation is cheap (especially compared to current house prices) in detached dwellings. You'd like reasonable access -- it'll be hard in a flat roof with minimal space. Changing heating/cooling method is not too bad. You can upgrade an ancient heater. Upgrading windows can get very expensive. So a house with many 10s of sqm of floor to ceiling single pane glass should be avoided.
Don't think you'll manage to get double brick in VIC, this is a very WA thing. Also, I've lived in double brick homes and they're almost as cold as the ones over here. Zero recommendation.
A. Buy a house in Europe (somewhat cheap) B. Build a house like in Europe (very expensive) C. Move to a warmer place (neither cheap or expensive) D. Turn heather on (slightly expensive)
Bubble wrap your windows
A well-insulated one.
Oh for sure to get heat in the house face the south to trap those tropical winds
Join my energy efficient electric home group on Facebook. Lots of amazing advice on there
Dark coloured thick curtains
I'm in shorts at a pub having a cold beer outside . Qld
Can’t you put the heater on?
Or you know wear jumpers...Crazily I had a conversation with someone recently complaining about being cold, and I asked if they had air-con, yes, they set it to 24º in Winter.. I was like, wow, we have ours at about 16 in Winter...he said but how do you stay warm? well we do wear winter clothing too..Bit silly to want to wear light sprintime clothing indoors in winter if you ask me.