My house at the moment is a complete ice box during winter. To make things worse, it is aluminium cladding and on poles - so a cold breeze can pass through under the floor very easily.
Looking for which of the following ways to keep it warm as possible. Which one should I do first? What order should I get them done in? Which are most effective?
Ceiling Insulation
Wall Insulation
Underfloor Insulation
Double Glazed Windows
thermal under garments tshirt jocks
wind proof winter clothes u can get at uniqlo trackies
balaclava, scarfe, beanie, gloves, thick socks
Our family have been using cold winder this product.
keep the heating cost down.
very happy with purchase
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32844930768.html?src=google&…
Never seen that before, do you have to pay for any heating at all at night?
Turn on your oven. Leave the door open
Cook a roast while you're at it 😋
OP:
"My house at the moment is a complete ice box during winter." - @speedskating
Grab out the ice skates… username checks out!
Bubble wrap your windows, it helps to insulate heat.
https://dengarden.com/home-improvement/How-to-Bubble-Wrap-Wi…
I'm reading this post thinking to myself how lucky I must have been to be raised in a Polish house. No dramas with the lack of insulation. In fact, I never had to wear any warm clothes at home despite freezing temperatures outside. Proper insulation used in housing constructions not only keeps it all nice and warm in winter but it works its magic during hot Polish summers too, making the Polish indoor life pretty cool (pun intended). I miss the hydronic heating system too. Especially in bathrooms where it's used as towel racks. So nice to wrap yourself with a warm towel when out of the shower. Double glazed windows? - standard,for as long as I can remember. Triple glazed windows are very popular too.
Every time I visit Poland in winter (even though Polish winters are no longer as cold as they used to be), I feel much warmer over there (indoors) than I ever feel in Melbourne between June and October. Crazy stuff but real.
In Melbourne it's always as cold inside my house as it is outside. The split heating system makes the air dry and irritating.
I can't comprehend the poor quality of the Aussie housing constructions, yet the prices are through the roof.
it works its magic during hot Polish summers too
Do Polish summers regularly reach 40C, like Melbourne does?
Around 27 degrees according to Google.
It's because of the difference in consequences.
If you don't have massive insulation in northern Europe, the consequences include DEATH.
If you don't have insulation in- even the coldest parts of Australia- the consequences are discomfort for a few months of the year. You gotta wear some extra clothes.
So I think proper insulation is sort of a luxury here and you pay a luxury price unless you're willing to get creative.
Houses in most of Australia are designed for cooling - if they have any thought to thermal control at all. Traditional Queensland houses are up on stilts, have large verandas around them, and generally have louvered windows up high and between rooms. This is all to allow air flow though. For the two or three weeks that it's cools you just deal with it.
I find when the mother in law leaves after visiting the temp rises again
So maybe stop the mother in law from visiting
insulation first!! everywhere, must be airtight
then probably water heated floor is the best option, not sure how hard/costly it is in Oz thought, but quite common and easy/affordable in cold countries
get a btc miner
Does anybody use the ceiling fan in reverse cycle and find it beneficial in regulating the cold(warmth) air?
I have legitimately never seen anyone use the winter function of a ceiling fan. I don't know why they bother putting the switch on there.
If you only have a radiant heater (like an electric bar/oil heater) it keeps the air temperature even instead of all the warm air collecting at the ceiling.
It due to the polar shifts and 5G that's causing you to feel colder this year…..
Same same but different -
How do I keep my bathroom in particular, warm.
On cold days mornings, the bathroom is freezing. No natural light, just a heat lamp, and cold tiles. I worry that a cheapie kmart electric heater is not cheap enough to run, not to mention dangerous with all the water.
Just shower, dry (with thick bathmat) and get out. Get dressed in your bedroom.
More so in the morning when I get up to brush my teeth and shower
Turn on the smallest fan heater, put on floor near feet, shut door, brush teeth. Pack fan away before shower. The room should be warm enough by then. (NEVER keep fan on while showering.)
I've found the PS4 keeps my bedroom warm.
Interesting because I've found the Xbox One X keeps my entire house warm.
Tape cling wrap (or any other cheap plastic) over your windows so there's a gap between the glass pane and the film - so tape the wrap to your window frames. This will create a still pocket of air which will be pretty similar to double glazing. Some people recommend bubble wrap, but that's much more expensive, and you won't see through it as well.
When it comes to heating, reverse cycle air conditioners are between 2 and 5 times more efficient than radiant heaters (because they actually create a heat differential which provides heat while also creating heat as a byproduct).
The cling wrap trick wouldn't work for Melbourne, tried it few years ago. High temp fluctuations causes too much expansion/contraction at frame, plastic film wouldn't stay up for long.
Cling wrap is pretty stretchy.
We recently got ceiling and underfloor insulation - if you've got pretty good access under the house then underfloor won't cost much - it's relatively quick and very cost effective. Wall insulation would have cost a fair bit more, same with double glazed windows (considerably).
Would definitely recommend ceiling and underfloor if you can afford it, completely changed how we use our fireplace and aircon! (oh and cleaning AC filter made a huge difference too!)
Did you do it yourself? Any tips for underfloor? I'm always curious to know if it makes walking on the floors quieter…
Also curious what you used for under floor insulation that was cost effective :) Maybe polystyrene at floor joist widths?
Actually, upon looking around, I found these Under Floor Insulation Batts which are reasonability affordable.
Expol make a product (essentially polystyrene that is fire retardant) that comes in different widths to fit between standard joist widths.
I had it installed at my place. Works well. Looks fairly easy to self install but I paid someone to do it as clearance was sub 30cm in some sections of the house and there was about 70 years of spider webs to deal with!
I found the Masterwall products at Mitre 10 both cheaper and with a higher R rating than the bunnings batts.
Completed about 60sqm so far and can notice the difference with the heater and as I walk on the floorboards
Thanks Wozz, approx how much did it cost in total?
Here is an unpopular suggestion.
If you are a single, wear one of those warm gown(p.11) during the day and before going to sleep, take a hot shower and fap. Then sleep under this warm blanket and sleep tight. Winter is Awesome.
The most important question: do you own it, or are you renting it?
The answer is important to help you get the best help, depending on it.
get some bubble wrap, measure and stretch it out and staple it onto a thin lite-weight wooden frame you've made yourself, one that will just fit inside your existing window frame. Can remove it when the weather warms up later in the year and store away ready for the following.
Acts as a very cheap and reasonably effective double-glaze substitute - to majorly slow the rate of heat normally lost through glass.
Alternatively just measure, cut and stick bubble wrap directly to the glass (using this method: there's no air gap between) with a sprayed solution of soapy water
Definitely seal the drafts, get those draft snakes from Bunnings to put at the bottom of your doors.
I lived in a pole house growing up.
Carpeting helped (as that sealed the floor) but down in the Kitchen/living area, we had polished boards and that was colder. In saying that, I think the varnishing helped to seal air coming through as all the boards.
underfloor and ceiling will be the best bang for buck
I used cheap reflective foil insulation. I bought 3x big rolls. It's listed as Thermal Bubble Single Foil reflective insulation on ebay
Did you use that for underfloor?
Three days ago, I bought a Single Bed Quilt and wrapped it around my legs when I'm sitting at the computer or watching Netflix. It's so effective that I have stopped using the heater altogether! It's a Kensington quilt from the Reject shop and costs only $16. I can also use it for the bed if it gets too cold at night.
Just an update on this. I ended up going with R6.0 insulation for the ceiling and R2.5 underfloor insulation. I found my local Bunnings had R6.0 insulation on clearance and it was cheaper than the R4.0 stuff so got a great deal. Got a pretty decently rated guy on Airtasker to install all of it but he did a crap job so wouldn't recommend him. Then I used putty to plug up all the vents and installed door seals on all the exterior doors. All up it cost us just under $2000 for everything for a home just over 60 m2 and its made it much more pleasant to live in and saved us a lot on heating/cooling electricity bills. The cost breakdown was about 50/50 between materials and labour.
It's made a huge difference to the house. Nice and cool in summer and really warm in winter. I would highly recommend anyone suffering from a poorly insulated house to consider insulation.
Then I used putty to plug up all the vents
Vents are for ventilation…
You can buy electric heated socks online. Most of the times cold is felt at the limbs than the body so if you keep your limbs warm you'll feel better. Also heated blanket / heated fitted blanket is a must for a good night's sleep.