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  • March 17, 2013 at 11:48 pm #1082
    Norman Smith
    Participant

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    Ask energy advisers where to start to make a house more energy efficient and I posit the majority would say weatherising/draft proofing; the products are available, a homeowner or renter can do it themselves and it produces results.
    Straightforward and Cheap. Right …. Well actually Wrong!
    It’s either straightforward but expensive if carried out by an experienced retrofitter who truly understands what is involved and does it professionally, or a reasonably cheap DIY which ends up with a rubbish job which doesn’t work.
    So why is it that after 20 plus years of Government-funded retrofit schemes this basic building block of home energy efficiency is simply not happening?
    Do others agree with this sweeping statement? I welcome the opportunity to expand on my position and explore a solution; I’m also happy to be proven wrong.  
    Cheers, Norman

    March 17, 2013 at 11:52 pm #1083
    Norman Smith
    Participant

    [Not sure why all the stuff is sitting at the front of my first post, perhaps because I cut and pasted from Word – Norman]

    Ask energy advisers where to start to make a house more energy efficient and I posit the majority would say weatherising/draft proofing; the products are available, a homeowner or renter can do it themselves and it produces results.

    Straightforward and Cheap. Right …. Well actually Wrong!

    It’s either straightforward but expensive if carried out by an experienced retrofitter who truly understands what is involved and does it professionally, or a reasonably cheap DIY which ends up with a rubbish job which doesn’t work.

    So why is it that after 20 plus years of Government-funded retrofit schemes this basic building block of home energy efficiency is simply not happening?

    Do others agree with this sweeping statement? I welcome the opportunity to expand on my position and explore a solution; I’m also happy to be proven wrong.

    Cheers, Norman

    March 18, 2013 at 11:01 am #1086
    Sally Blackwell
    Member

    Norman, when you say weatherising, what are you referring to?

    In the US weatherisation means insulation. I haven’t heard many people use the term here, although I hear lots of people talking about draught proofing.

     

    March 18, 2013 at 11:52 am #1087
    Norman Smith
    Participant

    Hi Sally, Agree it can all be confusing as terms get mixed up, also in the US weatherizing means different things. I ran the terms weatherising/draft proofing together to try and capture the overlap of terms and confusion between NZ and elsewhere. Here in NZ I experience ‘insulating’ being used to describe what is sometimes called weatherising in the US.

    Perhaps reaching agreement on terms might be something which emerges through the Hub, but that is for another time.

    To Clarify: I am talking about elimination of air infiltration through the building envelope through many (many) gaps which combined add up to the equivalent a hole about one metre square. The obvious gaps are doors and windows and open fire places. This process is mainly known in NZ as draft-proofing but it is much more complex than these simple measures and requires time and some understanding of how a building lives and breathes to be successful.

    Cheers, Norman

     

     

     

     

    March 19, 2013 at 3:28 pm #1095
    searotmann
    Participant

    I agree with Norman, weatherising – the way he describes it – was the only measure that could reasonably be done on my 100 year old South Coast bach. If you are interested of the process (which he and Grant Dunford undertook) check out this Storify I wrote about it: http://storify.com/DrSeaRotmann/weatherising-my-shamefully-inefficient-home

     

    March 20, 2013 at 12:18 pm #1099
    Norman Smith
    Participant

    In addition to Sea tracking Grant and I around her house and recording what we did (we don’t always have six beers each for lunch and an 2-hour afternoon sleep Sea!) I have been been documenting and photograhing products and costs, tools used, installation techniques etc. As a result I have the ability to produce a two page resource/instruction guide either for installers or home owners.

    Unless I have missed it in the course of a reasonably careful search – always possible – there is nothing like this for New Zealand houses and conditions. Hence my initiating the Whither Weatherising discussion, to tease out what others think about this energy efficiency activity and what information resources are needed to “make it happen.”

    Cheers, Norman

    March 24, 2013 at 1:29 pm #1104
    Norman Smith
    Participant

    Hi again, Sally especially,

    On reflection I think the term I was looking to use was ‘weather-stripping’  (with or without the hyphen) which I perceive is one step up from draft proofing but not full weatherising (with an ‘s’ or a ‘z’

    Cheers, Norman

    March 25, 2013 at 9:06 am #1105
    Sally Blackwell
    Member

    Thanks Norman : )

    March 25, 2013 at 9:19 am #1106
    Sally Blackwell
    Member

    Hi Sea and Norman

    Finally got a moment to watch the Storify. Its a useful practical example of dealing with you average draughty kiwi home. I too am a sucker for Wgtn’s South Coast even if its not the most tropical or sun filled environment. Being as cosy as possible in the teeth of a southerly is important!

     

    March 25, 2013 at 1:50 pm #1114
    Vicki Cowan
    Keymaster

    Hmm I think part of the problem is that there aren’t good products for some locations – and our expectations around durability of products is unrealistic – I got some of my house draught stripped by the professionals as part of a insulation subsidy and did some myself .  The professionals did a good job – but some products just don’t last.

    Door draught stoppers (or whatever their technical name is – the brush seals you can stick at the bottom of doors) seem to last pretty well, but I think the reality is that draught strips maybe only have a 5 year life.

    I like the V-seal product for wooden windows, because unlike most other products it doesn’t warp the wood, but even a very careful installation I think is going to fail after 5 years or so – and it is definately not a go-er for doors – I’ve seen it fail quite quickly in a lot of installations around heavily used doors. I think it only lasted about 3 years on my hardly used brand new French doors as well.

    I still think the shrink wrap double glazing has to win the award for cost effectiveness however – for a really draughty window I’ve seen people put it over the whole frame – meaning the window can’t be opened – but it was really effective at excluding draughts.  I’ve used it on a fixed wooden louvre window in my bach  (actually three layers so it was strong enough to withstand the howling southerlies) and 7 years later it’s still there – and still effective.

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