Keeping Your Home Warm in Winter
The Waikato winter sure can be cold!
As the fog rolls in and the early morning frosts appear taking refuge inside your home from the cold outside seems like a great idea.
But many homes aren’ t as warm as they should be. Warm and dry homes provide many cost and health benefits for you and your family.
If your home isn’ t as warm as it could be there are a number of ways that you can help to keep your home drier and warmer this winter.
Insulate One of the most effective ways to warm up your home is to insulate it so you don’ t lose the heat that is inside.
• The Government has just allocated $ 100 million in the 2013 budget to the Warm Up New Zealand Healthy Homes programme. The programme will target low-income households particularly those families with children and high health needs. The programme will provide grants for up to 60 % of the cost of insulation.
• Draught proof under doors and around windows( you can buy draught proofing strips at hardware stores).
• Hang good quality thermal curtains that generously fit your windows.
Heat
• Heat pumps, modern wood burners and quality flued gas heaters provide the best, most efficient forms of heat.
• Electric heaters, while much cheaper to buy, can be costly to run, so weigh up the running cost vs purchase cost benefits. Check the energy rating of products when buying them, the Energywise website has a good comparison of the types of heating and their energy efficiency.
• Avoid using unflued gas heaters, which release toxic gases and water vapour, which actually makes your house damper and has significant health risks. Ventilate
• Open up windows. Yes, even though it’ s winter – just a little, for half an hour each day, and change the air inside your home so that you are getting fresh air in the house and letting moisture out.
• Do not dry washing inside. All of that moisture from wet washing has to go somewhere and will end up dampening and moulding up your home.
• Open up windows or turn on ventilation fans when showering or cooking.
• Use pot lids and shut doors so kitchen and bathroom steam doesn’ t escape into other parts of the house.
• Clean all visible mould away as soon as it appears on ceilings, walls and windowsills using a spray bottle filled with a solution of three parts of white vinegar and two parts of water. Mould that grows on
22 walls and ceilings can be very toxic. So small steps …. big results. Some of these may seem like small steps but collectively they can all make a significant difference to the health of your home and the ongoing health of your precious family.
For more information check out: www. eeca. govt. nz www. energywise. govt. nz
Article supplied in part by Eleanor Cater, National Brand Manager for Parents Centre
New Zealand.