In article 0>,
Wayne Boatwright > wrote:

> Oh pshaw, on Mon 12 Nov 2007 01:18:53p, Miche meant to say...

> > NZ'ers are really behind the times when it comes to insulation -- we
> > tend to have terribly badly insulated houses, resulting in homes that
> > are below WHO guidelines for internal temperature and a lot of
> > unnecessary illness from cold and damp.
> >
> > Also, they cost a hell of a lot to heat.

>
> Since I don't have a clue, Miche, is central heating and central cooling a
> common or uncommon thing in NZ?

Unusual, yeah. I don't know a private house here that has it (or, if
they do have it, uses it -- most of the units still extant here date
from the '60s and early '70s and are oil-fired -- from before the oil
shock). IMO heat pumps (heat exchangers) don't count, as they tend ot
heat only one room/space.

> Curious, also... What do the WHO
> guidlines specify?

Couldn't find the guideline itself in a quick search; found the
following statement on a Statistics NZ website:

"The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends an indoor temperature of
at least 18 degrees Celsius, or 21 degrees if a home houses elderly,
young or disabled people. A third of New Zealand houses are below this
recommendation."

> What are the conditions typically found in homes there?

A lot of houses are cooler than that; if they're insulated at all it's
usually only the walls. There's a strong streak of "put a jersey on
rather than the heater", especially in poorer households, as they can't
necessarily afford to heat the house to WHO standards. Being
uninsulated just makes that harder, of course. (The "put a jersey on"
mentality is good from a conservation point of view but if the internal
temperature of the house is too low and/or the house is damp, it's not
going to do you any good healthwise.)

> Yes, without proper insulation, heating and/or cooling costs can increase
> dramatically.

Don't I know it. The insulation here is dreadful. When we buy a house
(we're currently renting) we're going to upgrade the insulation, as it's
more or less bound to be crap.

Miche

--
Electricians do it in three phases