Evolution: Heating and Condensation in NZ Houses

[Bob Kane]

Seems like NZ houses are taking quite a while to eventually end up with acceptable heating/ventilating systems.
We've slowly moved on from open fires to double burners to heat pumps to ventilation systems and now combining various features into hybrid systems with digital readouts and lots of buttons and lights to play with.
Pretty soon we'll end up with something called air-conditioning which will be the new fad in our homes.

[cube]

Insulation and radiators on the wall would be a good start!

[Winston001]

Bob - its has puzzled me for many years as to why our homes are damp and cold. Insulation is a no-brainer and has been understood for 5000 years. So is building to face the sun.

The primary rule for heating is to stop energy loss. A perfectly insulated room would become hot simply from the human body. A Californian correspondent on another forum recently commented that his double-wide mobile (transportable) home had R15 ceiling insulation that was over two feet (600mm) thick. He assumed that was normal but it makes our R3.5 look pathetic. This is in California too, not Alaska.

A few years ago I discussed double glazing with a builder who looked surprised and then conceded it was ok on the south side of a house. Fortunately I took my own advice for complete double glazing FTW.

It is easy to fully insulate on a new build and provide ventilation. However the hundreds of thousands of poorly insulated/poor solar aspect existing homes pose a real problem for the next 50 years. Which begs the fundamental question (given most colonists came from damp climates) - why were houses built so counterintuitively?

[TheLiberalLeft]

My current home is north facing with plenty of glass on that side. It's insulated, but not to the nth degree. I have no heatpump or DVS-style system. I have no fireplace and rarely use a heater, even in winter (I'm north of Auckland, but it still gets cold outside of a winter's evening). I have no condensation issues and the place is very warm.

Never again would I live in anything but a north-facing property.

[drelly]

Insulation is a no-brainer and has been understood for 5000 years. So is building to face the sun.

I think the sun thing was a common mistake colonists made because in the Northern hemisphere, you do build facing the south. Oops! Perhaps the building was all done in Summer when they forgot how cold Winter is!

I think larger, older homes in NZ are totally unsuitable for heat pumps. Just too expensive. A wood burner is far more practical.

[TheLiberalLeft]

Wood burners are better in any house. No reliance on electricity, and carbon neutral. Why would you have it any other way and even attempt to describe yourself as environmentally-friendly?

[outspoken]

Wood burners are better in any house. No reliance on electricity, and carbon neutral. Why would you have it any other way and even attempt to describe yourself as environmentally-friendly?

How is cutting down a tree and burning it Carbon neutral?

[drelly]

How is cutting down a tree and burning it Carbon neutral?

The tree grew by soaking up carbon, so when you burn it, you're only releasing what the tree already had. At least that's the theory as I understand it.

[TheLiberalLeft]

That's more than a theory, drelly. It's fact. Outspoken has fallen for a common misconception.

[TheLiberalLeft]

In addition a woodburner lasts for 20+ years, spreading the enviro-cost of manufacture. What's the lifespan of a heatpump?

It's similar to the argument Land Rover enthusiasts use when pretend eco-warriors tout their Prius as the green choice.

[outspoken]

What misconception is that? I asked a question.

So as long as you plant another tree, the Carbon you re-release by burning can be soaked up again?

[TheLiberalLeft]

Indeed you did, and the answer to your new one is yes. Plant two, and you're in -ve territory.

[kapitibeanman]

One downside seems to be distress and risk of early death for anyone with a respiratory weakness.

Don't under-estimate the terrible effect smoke has on a lot of people. If you don't believe me, just ask anyone with asthma. Might be hard to appreciate if you've never had to struggle for breath, but even one domestic fire on a still evening can knock the stuffing out of an otherwise healthy person even a block or so away.

I reckon we should be moving away from fireplaces, and the sooner the better. Just as long as the alternatives ain't radioactive.

[PC]

The alterative is burn coal/gas or hydro for power.
Then inefficienly transport the power to were people live.

Modern clean burning fireplace is surely a greener solution.
(Apart from the heart attacks, back ache from splitting & stacking fire wood).

[kapitibeanman]

The alterative is burn coal/gas or hydro for power.
Then inefficienly transport the power to were people live.

Modern clean burning fireplace is surely a greener solution.
(Apart from the heart attacks, back ache from splitting & stacking fire wood).

The so-called clean burning fires may be a partial solution, but our neighbour's new one can still manage to cripple me. Maybe it is just being operated wrongly.