Insulation, Heating and Double Glazing - a Three-Pronged Solution to Winter

If you’re looking to improve your house’s condition ahead of winter, it can be hard to know what to invest in first. Insulation? A heat pump? Double glazing? While creating heat is important, keeping it inside is just as crucial to a warm, dry home. This guide to winterising your home will help you figure out where to start.  

Double glazed windows

Around half of a house’s warmth escapes through windows and doors, making double glazing a very wise investment. Double glazed windows dramatically lower the amount of heat loss in your house, while also contributing to dryer windows and less moisture and mould inside the house.

Insulation

While a lot of heat escapes through glass windows, a decent amount can also find its way past walls, ceilings and floors with poor insulation. Insulation acts like a barrier, stopping this flow of warm air and helping your house retain its heat.

Heating

Older homes weren’t designed with winter in mind, which makes heating with a fire or heat pump a near necessity in Tauranga. However, without double glazed windows and insulated walls and ceilings, a large amount of your heat will escape, making your house cold and your power bill high. So, while heating is important, it really needs to go hand-in-hand with these other methods.

Working towards the full package

Of course, it’s unlikely that you will upgrade all three of these cold-weather-fighting factors in one season, unless you’re building a new house. And that’s fine – make one change at a time with the long-term goal of ticking all three off the list.

If you don’t have a heater, or your fireplace is broken, this might be the place to begin. If you have a functioning heater, you’re better off turning your attention to the windows and walls as a starting point.

Rules around insulation

Regulations around insulation in rental properties in NZ changed in July 2019, with mandatory underfloor and ceiling insulation. This is a huge step towards helping our country’s homes provide the warmth, comfort and healthy environment they should.

Is double glazing next?

Kiwis love large windows and sliding glass doors – it gives us beautiful views and great indoor-outdoor flow. It makes our houses great in summer but offers a lot of opportunities for heat loss in winter.

Which begs the question…are regulations around double glazing next? Time will tell, but either way, double glazing your doors and windows is a prudent choice!

Want to improve the comfort and warmth of your home this winter?

Ryan Double Glazing has been transforming homes in the Bay of Plenty and Waikato for over 30 years – give us a call today.

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