We have just passed winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. But as granny says, as the days get longer, the cold gets stronger, so now is the time to seriously warm up the house.
To stay healthy in the colder weather we need to make sure our homes, rentals or owned, are healthy, warm and dry.
Science tells us that humans function best at temperatures between 18 and 25C - not too hot, not too cold – and humidity that ranges between 40 to 60 per cent. Cold, damp houses are blamed for many of New Zealand’s poor health figures.
James Powers, a director of Oculus, the design and engineering firm that specialises in designing more weather-tight and energy efficient buildings, shares five tips on how to achieve maximum result on minimal budget this winter.
Start your property search
Keep the heater on
The main rule is simple, Powers says: keep your house temperature consistent, around 18C.
Instead of turning the heater on full blast for a few hours when you get home, creating a contrast temperature to the cold when you’re out of the house, he says it is better to keep the house at a consistent temperature by leaving the heater working throughout the day.
“It creates conditions for condensation and mould growth. When we heat the air up it’ll contain more moisture and when we allow the building to cool down that moisture hits the cold thing and condensation occurs.”
Turning heating on and off might seem like it saves money, but it is less energy efficient and leaves the room colder when you want to heat it back up again.
Leave a fan on
An extractor fan costs a couple of hundred dollars and it makes a dramatic difference to having a healthy home in the winter.
Powers says extractor fans should be in the kitchens and bathrooms to draw water out of the house, as they are effortless ways to avoid humidity indoors.
Running a bathroom fan for eight hours while you are away at work can be enough to properly ventilate and dry the house, and it is relatively inexpensive.
Powers says that these are also more effective and healthy solutions than using a dehumidifier.
“If you don’t have an extractor fan or any mechanical ventilation, have a word with your landlord because they should be providing that according to the legislation,” he says.
Open windows
In the past, advice as always been to keep thick curtains closed to keep the room warm.
While curtains do provide some insulation benefit if they create a pocket of still air, they also prevent warm interior air from reaching the window.
The curtains do not stop the flow of moisture and can make condensation problems worse, Powers says.
Powers points out that curtains trap the moisture and could get damp and mouldy, so suggests people wash and dry their curtains every couple of months.
"you don’t have a good ventilation system, opening all windows every morning is better than nothing,” Powers says.
Keeping all windows open for 15 minutes will allow a cross flow of fresh air and get rid of access moisture in house.
But do not forget to close them right away.
“Obviously, we pay a lot of money to heat our homes and by opening windows you let the heat escape but why you’re doing it is to let the moisture out.”
Stop drafts
When your windows are closed make sure they are tightly sealed with no cracks and gaps you can see though.
A tight-fitting window film does not cost much and will create a pocket of still air that supplies extra insulation in the winter.
Unlike curtains, a plastic film prevents humid air from reaching the cold window surface.
“You can get different things from Bunnings, a window film is useful, but you can also find other materials to stop the drafts from coming into the building,” Powers says.
Any place where one material meets another is a potential leakage path, he says.
Use a sealant to close these gaps or even temporary seals like tape can help in some instances.
Circulate heat through the room
It is important to move warm air though the house.
Try using a small fan to blow hot air through all parts of the room, Powers suggests, so that you won’t have cold and hot areas in the same roo, instead evening out the surface heat.
He says it is a myth that keeping a bedroom door closed holds the warmth in the room, as there is not a lot of evidence to support it.
Bedrooms normally do not have a ventilation system so by keeping the door shut you are blocking the airflow, which is the only source of air exchange.
Powers says it is common to see mould behind sofas, tables or beds that are pushed up to a wall. To keep the air flowing equally, he recommends moving furniture away from exterior walls so that it does not block heat from reaching the cold surface.
