Insulation - Andrea's home Nelson

Ceiling and floor insulation made this Nelson home much warmer.

Andrea lives in Nelson with her two teenage children in a 1930s wooden house."It wasn’t a warm house in the winter," she says. “It was insulated with loose fill that was about 40 years old!”

In July 2006, Andrea’s home was retrofitted with ceiling and floor insulation through the EnergyWise Home Grant Scheme. She found out about the scheme in a local newsletter. “It was fantastic. These people came in and, in one day, put all this insulation in our ceiling and floors and went away again without leaving me with a big mess or big bill. The house is just so much nicer to be in during the cold weather now.”

Andrea’s house was fitted with:

• blanket polyester ceiling insulation (R3.2 - far in excess of the Building Code requirement of R2.5)
• perforated reflective foil underfloor insulation (R1.3 - meeting the Building Code requirement)
• one door draught excluder
• four compact fluorescent lightbulbs.

Under the scheme, some people may need to make a contribution to the cost of the insulation. The scheme will also fit a hot water cylinder wrap but this wasn’t possible in Andrea’s case, due to the way the cylinder was installed.

Andrea installed a heat pump in winter 2004. She says there wasn’t a big cost saving switching from a woodburner to a heat pump but the convenience of not having to collect, chop and stack the firewood, let alone having to set and clear up after the fire, was well worth it. And the costs are definitely comparable.

However, she noticed a big difference with the insulation. “Since the insulation was put in, the heat pump is on less and the house is warmer in the mornings. I don’t need to have the heat pump on as long, or as high. My daughter’s bedroom is on the southwest corner of the house, and she’s sure it’s warmer than it was.”

Andrea likes the compact fluorescent lightbulbs too. She already had some in the house and says she loves the fact that she doesn’t have to replace them as often as the old style bulbs.