Welcome Winter Home

Your guide to keeping healthy, warm and cosy through winter

Full of fun and practical ways to enjoy winter

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Contents

Contents

WINTER IS THE BEST OF ALL SEASONS, FOR ALL SORTS OF REASONS.

Its a time to spend with friends and family. Its a time of cold and a time of warmth. So lets hear it for freezing mornings and winter warmers, for rain on windows and plenty to read, for southerlies, for a crack of lightning, a crackling fire and a stack of movies, for short days and long walks, for delicious, warming meals, hot baths and bed. Our guide will help you enjoy winter, with tips and advice on keeping your home healthy, warm and cosy plus links to exclusive recipes, wine recommendations and more. Well take you through how to keep the heat in and get the damp out of your home. Well also tell you which are the cheapest and cleanest heating fuels, and how to get the best out of your heating appliances.

Inside

Winter Warmers

04 Dampness 07 Ventilation 08 Insulation 10 Windows 13 Dehumidifiers 14 Central heating 16 Heating choices 18 Types of fuels 20 Heat pumps 22 Electricity 25 Gas 26 Wood 28 Pellets 31 Top 10 heating tips
Here you will find links to our free buying guides, including special recipes from Ruth Pretty to help you create the perfect winter home and enjoy those long cold nights.

Enjoy!
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06 09 12 19 23 24 30

TV Ovens Soup Lighting Slow cookers Breadmakers Red wine

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Dampness

Dampness

Dampness
Enemy number one
Moisture can find its way into the house from water leaks in roofs and around windows, and from damp underfloor conditions. People just breathing can also add to moisture build-up.
for reducing dampness

8 Tips

First
Reduce dampness and moisture at their source to improve interior air quality.

Put a sealed moisture-control sheet on the ground under the house.

Next
Remove moisture in the air by ventilation or with a dehumidifier.

Where it comes from

ACTIVITY
Cooking Clothes washing Showers and baths Dishes Clothes drying (unvented) Gas heater (unflued) Breathing Sleeping Perspiration

LITRES
3.0/day 0.5/day 1.5/day (per person) 1.0/day 5.0/load Up to 1.0/hour 0.2/hour (per person) 0.02/hour (per person) 0.03/hour (per person)

2 3 4

Use extractor fans in bathrooms.

5 6 7

Use pot lids while cooking.

Dry clothes outside and vent dryers outside.

Install a shower dome.

Open windows to remove moisture-laden air. Use a dehumidifier.

Use a kitchen rangehood thats vented outside.

Get the right products to effectively reduce damp in your home. To find the best dehumidifiers, rangehoods and more, visit:

Find out more

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Winter Warmer #1

Ventilation

Winter Warmer

tv

#1

Ventilation Keep the air moving

Air your house. The easiest way is to open the windows regularly to remove stale, moisture-laden air. Consider window vents or security stays so the house can be ventilated when youre out.
An automatic ventilation system can also be effective at reducing moisture and condensation, mould and dust mites. more suitable for older houses in warmer climates with wooden windows and doors than modern houses with sealed aluminium joinery unless the windows are opened or additional ventilation vents are fitted. Balanced pressure or heat-exchanger ventilation systems extract warm damp air from living spaces and pass it through a heat-exchanger to heat up the dry air the system brings in from outside. They work best in more airtight, modern homes.

There are plenty of long nights ahead to catch up on favourite movies and TV series. And whether youre into DVDs, bluray, SKY or online streaming, youll need something on which to watch it all. Thats where our free TV buying guide comes in. Take a look at our experts views on LCDs, LEDs, plasmas, rear projectors and front projectors.

There are two main types of ventilation systems:

Positive pressure or

forced air ventilation systems work by blowing drier air into your house usually from the roof space above the ceiling or from outside. Theyre

What To Consider ...

Modern or older house? Wooden or aluminium windows and doors? The size of the floor area? Open plan or divided rooms? How much sun does the house get? How much roof space is there? How cold is winter?

Which system is best?

This depends on the design of your house, its floor area, the location, how much sun the house gets, the type of roof ... even the local climate.

Find out more

To compare the prices and features of 70 ventilation systems and let us help you find the best system for your home, visit:

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Insulation

Winter Warmer #2

Insulation
Keep the warmth in
Insulation makes your home easier and cheaper to heat in winter.
Warm indoor temperatures and adequate ventilation make for a drier and healthier place in which to live. Insulating the ceiling/roof area is the first priority as this is where most heat is lost. Heat is lost or gained from your home in three ways: Directly through your floor, walls and ceiling insulating these areas reduces heat loss. By air moving through open doors, windows and unsealed downlights or mechanically by fan systems. Directly through glass.
TIP: Check to see if you have any insulation. Possibly you may have some thats old or ineffective - and so it requires a top up. Watch this ENERGYWISE video about checking your insulation.

Winter Warmer

ovens
Check it out here

#2

R-values
Insulating materials that have higher R-values reduce the rate of a buildings heat loss in winter (or heat gain in summer). This in turn reduces the amount of heating (or cooling) required for a comfortable indoor temperature. The R-value depends on the type of material and its density and thickness. So an aluminium singleglazed window has an R-value of 0.15 while a typical insulated walls R-value is 1.99 more than 10 times greater.

The kitchen is the most important room in the house especially in winter. Its where that delicious comfort food is prepared, so having the right oven is important. Todays ovens are sophisticated appliances able to perform all kinds of culinary feats. Our guide will help you choose the right oven and get the most out of it.

Where the heat goes:

Vanilla Scones

Find out more

To compare the prices and features of 70 ventilation systems, visit: www.consumer.org.nz .

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10

Windows

Windows

11

Windows Keeping more warmth in

Touch a window pane on a cold day and itll feel cold. Its likely to be as cold as the outside air.
When the warm inside air hits the cold glass two things happen: The warm air is cooled heat is escaping outside. The cooled inside air forms condensation on thewindow pane. Neither is good! There are two ways of dealing with this keeping the warm inside air away from the window (curtains) and insulating the pane (by doubleglazing or secondaryglazing existing windows). Curtains help by creating a pocket of still air between the window and the curtain. That pocket of air must remain trapped by the curtains which are close-fitting top and bottom. Well-fitting curtains can be just as effective as doublewww.consumer.org.nz

Double glazing

Secondary glazing

First step
Try temporary doubleglazing as a first step. DIY window insulation consists of a thin, clear plastic film taped to the inside of your window frame but not on the glass. It prevents condensation and reduces heat loss by acting like double-glazing. The films easy to install and the only thing needed are a pair of scissors and a hair dryer to shrink it so it looks tidy.

Tip
If youre renting check with your landlord whether its OK to install temporary double-glazing.

glazing they will add an R-value of 0.26 to a window. Double or secondary glazing traps a layer of air (or an inert gas like argon) between the two panes. This reduces the heat-loss through the glass. Most new houses must have doubleglazing and retrofitting older houses is possible but expensive.

Double or secondary glazing traps a layer of air between two panes.

Find out more
For more information on double and secondary glazing, curtains, R-values, and how to keep the heat in visit:

Tip
If temporary window insulation makes a real difference, aim for more permanent double-glazing as your budget allows.

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Winter Warmer #3

Dehumidifiers

13

Winter Warmer

soup
A delicious, warming bowl of soup is a staple in winter. To find out which soups are super we put pre-made soups to the taste test and came up with some delicious surprises. So if you dont have time to make your own soup theres plenty of great options available in your supermarket.

#3

Dehumidifiers
Suck out the damp
Once youve done your best to remove the sources of moisture, a dehumidifier can make a big difference. Theyre a great option for renters because theyre portable and can be moved from room to room or even house to house.
Most dehumidifiers use a small refrigeration unit to first cool the rooms air (so it can condense out the moisture) then reheat it. The waterremoval rate reduces as the air temperature drops. Desiccant dehumidifiers have recently hit the market. They work differently and use a water-absorbing (desiccant) material such as a silica-gel to remove the moisture from the air. They work better but use more power. All the electricity a dehumidifier uses ends up heating the room. This is a good thing in our climate

How does it work?

Every time water is turned from a liquid to a gas (water vapour), heat has to be added. This heat is called the latent heat of evaporation. The reverse happens when water vapour is condensed to a liquid that latent heat is released. When a dehumidifier condenses the water vapour in the air back to a liquid for draining off, the latent heat in the water vapour is then released.

Check them out here

Bean and Chorizo Soup

Using a heater and a dehumidifier together will heat a cold and damp room more quickly and cheaply than a heater on its own.
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but it gets even better...

The dehumidifier dries the air and in the process delivers more heat to the room than it uses in electricity. Only a heat pump gives you more bang for your buck.

Find out more

Weve tested and reported on 9 commonly available models. To find out what you need to consider before you buy a dehumidifier and to find the best model for your home, visit:

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Central Heating

Central Heating

15

Central heating
The heat from a traditional heater, woodburner, gas fireplace, electric heater or heat pump is released directly into the room where the appliance is installed. In open-plan houses this heat can spread somewhat throughout the open area. Thats unlikely in houses with separate rooms: the heat source can overheat the room where its installed and the rest of the house remains cold. A heat-transfer kit with insulated ducting can help even out temperatures but the house is unlikely to become uniformly warm.

Whole-house heating
Kiwi homes are too often small islands of heat among a sea of cold air.
Whole-house (central) heating
Central heating works by separating the place where the heat is generated from where its released. There are two common systems: ducted hot air and piped hot water (hydronic). A central-heating system has three major components: a heat source thats located in a convenient place (away from where the heats required) a distribution system that transfers and distributes the heat a means of releasing the heat where its required. A control system monitors and controls the overall system.

Heating: The heat source is commonly called a boiler and it heats either air for ducted distribution or water for hydronic systems. Different models burn gas, diesel, logs or wood pellets. Others use a heat pump. You need to check with at least two heating companies to determine which type is best for your locality. Distribution: Once the air or water is heated it needs to be distributed to where the heats required. This is done by insulated ducting for hot-air systems or insulated pipes for hydronic. The house can usually be divided into several heating zones that can be heated at different times and to different temperatures. Releasing: Ducted systems
have outlet grills that deliver heated air directly to the rooms. Hydronic systems release their heat either through underfloor heating (the hot water is piped through pipes buried in a concrete floor slab) or radiators (where the hot water is piped to wall-mounted radiators). Radiator hydronic heating can be retrofitted into many homes because the connecting pipes can be run under timber floors, inside walls and over ceilings.

For more information on efficient heating, insulation, ventilation and tips on how to have a warm, comfortable and healthy home, visit:

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What fuel to choose

What fuel to choose

17

Heating choices
What fuel to choose?
Sometimes you dont have a choice but if you do: Heat pumps, flued natural gas heaters and woodburners are the cheapest forms of heating. Unflued LPG heaters are the most expensive. Natural gas is the cheapest form of central heating ahead of pellet burners.

Recommended minimum temp for your bedroom:

Almost everyone uses electricity sort out the best deal for you by visiting

16C 18C

Recommended minimum temp for your living room:

Home heating costs 2013 (cents per kWh)

HEATERS
Electricity (heat pump) Natural gas (flued heater) Firewood (woodburner) Electricity (nightstore/underfloor) Wood pellets (pellet burner) Diesel LPG (flued heater) Electricity (plug-in heaters) LPG (unflued heater) CENTRAL HEATING Natural gas Wood pellets Diesel LPG
GUIDE TO THE FIGURES COSTS are for providing one kilowatt of heat for one hour. They do not include fixed charges. Firewood is pine and its costs are from our November 2012 survey. Electricity and natural gas costs are from powerswitch.org.nz. Other costs are from pricing data collected during February 2013. GST is included.

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Renewable semi-renewable non-renewable

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Heating fuel types

Winter Warmer #4

19

Fuels Clean and green?

Some heating fuels cause less atmospheric pollution and are more sustainable than others. We rate the most common options:
Electricity comes from a combination of renewable and non-renewable sources so its only a semi-clean fuel. But nothing is cleaner in your home. Firewood is one of the few sustainable carbon-neutral home-heating options. But to get the most heat (and the least pollution), it must be burned hot and in a specially designed firebox. The firewood must also be dry and the pieces not too big.
co2
Renewable

Winter Warmer

#4

lighting
Renewable

Natural gas is clean-burning, but its a fossil fuel. Burning it adds the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide to the environment. LPG is clean-burning like natural gas but adds carbon dioxide to the environment. Wood pellets are manufactured from 100 percent wood waste and burn cleanly so theyre really clean and green.

Creating a cozy inviting atmosphere in your home on long winter nights takes nothing more than some imaginative lighting. And, if you take an energyefficient approach, you could achieve the right look for a lot less. Our lighting experts have created a free lighting guide, to help you switch on to clever warm lighting.

semirenewable

Check it out here

co2

co2

Diesel is now low-sulphur and relatively pollutant-free. But its a non-sustainable fossil fuel and adds to carbon dioxide emissions. Solar is the cleanest fuel of all but you need a purposedesigned house to rely on solar for 100 percent of your heating. Existing homes can be modified to take advantage of solar energy.

nonrenewable

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20

Heat Pumps

Heat Pumps

21

Heat pumps

An experienced installer will give you advice on the right size and where to place the indoor and outdoor units.
Heat pumps are large space heaters they heat air. They can also provide summer cooling. You can set them to come on and off automatically. Because heat pumps use a fan to distribute the warmed air, the heating spreads more evenly than most other space heaters (such as a woodburner). Smaller versions (up to 4kW) are designed for a single room like a bedroom, with larger units (up to 10kW) suitable for large open-plan areas. All heat pumps have a rating label to show how energy efficient they are. The most efficient models also carry the blue ENERGY STAR mark.

How they work

Heat pumps work by taking heat from the air outside your house and bringing it indoors. Its like a refrigerator in reverse. By trying to cool the outside world it can extract heat, or vice versa.

The power of three

Heat pumps are one of the cheapest heating options to run once theyre installed. The better models produce at least three times the heat for the power they use. They can be retrofitted but they must be the right capacity for the house and installed properly.

Do heat pumps dehumidify?

Yes, when they remove water from the air in cooling and dehumidifying (dry) mode. But when heating, they dont. Because warm air can hold more water than cool air, the relative humidity falls as the heat pump warms the air so the air feels drier.

Running costs:
If you install a heat pump and keep your home about as warm as you do now, you could save plenty in heating costs. But many people keep their homes warmer than before, so their heating bills havent dropped by much but their houses are much warmer and healthier.

Find out more

For all the information you need to choose the right heat pump for your home, visit: .

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Electric heating

Winter Warmer #5

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Electricity
Portable heating
All electric heaters are 100 percent efficient they convert all the electrical energy they use into useful heat.
But whats best? Fan or convection? Oil-filled or radiant?
Convection heaters are designed to provide background warmth. They warm the air, which rises and circulates around the room by natural convection. Heaters with fans provide faster warm-up and more even heating. The most popular type of convection heater is the upright oil-filled column heater. Skirting-board style panel heaters are also convection heaters. Portable fan heaters sit on the floor and blast warm air directly at you. That moving air heats the room evenly. Fan heaters are great for quickly heating a room, but the fan noise can become annoying. Radiant heaters with their glowing electric elements provide quick directional heat to a small area of a room and also give some convection heating. Radiant heaters are more suited to older, draughtier homes or rooms with high ceilings.

Winter Warmer

#5

slow cookers

Tips
Thermostats help maintain an even temperature and save power. Timers allow you to turn a heater on and off automatically. Fans help a room warm up faster and distribute the air more evenly.

Shorter days were made for slow cookers. You can walk in from work and a delicious piping hot meal is only minutes away. Weve cooked up a guide to help you choose the right slow cooker. Eighteen models were tested, priced from $39 to $300. So there's one for you, whatever your budget.

Tilt switches switch

off the heater if it falls over. Not all portable electric heaters have to be fitted with one. We think theyre essential.

Slow Cooked Corned Silverside with Winter Salad and Roasted Mustard Fruits

Find out more

Electric heaters vary in how well they heat a room. For your checklist on what to consider when buying a heater, visit:

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Winter Warmer #6

Natural gas & LPG

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Winter Warmer

bread makers
A breadmaker is the best thing since sliced bread especially in winter. That warm, fresh bread aroma is one of the most welcoming there is. To make sure you dont waste your hard-earned dough on the wrong breadmaker, our experts have put a whole range to the test.

#6

Gas

Natural gas & LPG

Your gas options will depend on where you live. Natural gas is only available in the more populated areas of the North Island but LPG in 45kg and 9kg cylinders is available just about everywhere.
Gas heaters come in everything from relatively small wall-mounted units and fireplace inserts, to full central-heating systems. Gas prices are relatively low per kilowatt hour, but if you add in the daily connection charge the price becomes much higher. Burning either natural gas or LPG creates moisture and carbon dioxide. A flued heater removes these gases to the outside with an unflued heater they go into the house.

unflued

The blue ENERGY STAR mark has recently been introduced for gas space heaters and fireplaces. This helps you find the most energy- efficient models.

Emergencies only!
Running a portable unflued LPG heater on 9kg bottles is the most expensive form of heating. Its also a health and safety hazard. Unflued gas heaters produce carbon dioxide and fill the air with moisture. If a fault develops the heater may release potentially fatal levels of carbon monoxide. Thats why an unflued heater should only be used in rooms with good ventilation and never in bedrooms.

Rosemary and Wholemeal Bread

Find out more

To find out the results of our test of the performance, safety and ease of use of built-in flued gas heaters, visit:

BUT!
We think its a good idea to keep one for emergency use when other energy sources like electricity or natural gas arent available.

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Woodburners

Woodburners

27

Wood

Cosy, clean and warm

Nothings nicer than toasting yourself in front of a cosy fire. Using a woodburner to heat your home means youre not captive to energy companies and their ever-rising prices and you can still be warm if theres a power cut.
Burning wood cleanly is the key to making it environmentally friendly. Thats because you win three times over: wood is a sustainable heating fuel you get more heat from a clean-burning (non-smoky) fire cleaner burning means fewer smoke particles lodging in all our lungs. If you burn wood carelessly or use wet wood, you can create a health hazard through the ultra-fine smoke particles that can lodge in peoples lungs. Modern woodburners can burn much more cleanly than older models but only if you tend the fire carefully and use the right-sized dry wood. Heat-transfer kits are a good idea if you want to spread the heat more evenly through your house.

Tips
Keep the woodburner

refuelled.
Use dry firewood of

the right size (110mm diameter or less).

Control the heat output

adjust the amount of wood thats burning rather than use the air control.

Burning wood cleanly is the key to making it enviro-friendly

Find out more

Weve compared the emissions, efficiency and output of more than 100 models of woodburners. Also get the right-sized woodburner with our free online calculator. For the full report, visit:

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Pellet burners

Pellet burners

29

Pellets
Small balls of fire
Theres plenty to like about pellet burners. Theyre convenient to use and an effective form of low-pollution carbon-neutral heating. But the high cost of the pellets in some areas has stopped people buying the burners.
Most pellet burners look like a conventional woodburner and are available either as a free-standing model or an insert into a fireplace. You can even get a basementfurnace model for central heating. But pellet burners burn only compressed wood pellets, which you buy in 15kg or 20kg plastic bags or in bulk so you cant use any free firewood. The cost of pellets varies substantially region to region, so inquire about local prices before you buy. The pellets are loaded into a hopper at the back of the
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unit and are fed into the fire through an automatic feed system. Adjusting the rate the pellets are burnt gives you control over the amount of heat produced. In some models, a thermostat can be used to keep an even room temperature and a timer can provide automatic switching-on and -off. With freestanding and fireplace-insert models, a hopper load of pellets lasts for around 24 hours of continuous burning and these models produce a similar amount of heat to a conventional woodburner. Basement furnace models produce much more.

Shop around for the cheapest source of pellets - there are big variations in price.

Rule of thumb
The dollar cost of a 20kg bag of pellets roughly equals the running cost in cents per kWh. So a 20kg bag of pellets at $12 a bag will give you heating at 12c per kWh; a $15 bag would work out at 15c per kWh. If you can source pellets from the mill at $450 per tonne (the equivalent of $9 per bag), running costs are 9 cents per kWh.

Running costs
Shop around for the cheapest source of pellets there are big variations in price. If theres a mill close to you, try them first. To get a good price, consider buying a years worth of pellets.

Find out more

For more information on the advantages and disadvantages of pellet burners, visit:

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Winter Warmer #7

Top 10 tips

31

Winter Warmer

red wine

#7

Consumers Top 10 Heating Tips

1
Reducing dampness will make you feel warmer and reduce mould and allergy-causing dust mite populations. Insulate first particularly the ceiling.

A glowing fire and a glass of red are perfect on a winters night. Our experts have put together one of our best wine guides ever. We sampled 50 wines from New Zealand and Australia. And to spice things up weve added some unfamiliar grape varieties such as tempranillo, gamay noir and montepulciano.

2 3

Oil-column and other convection heaters can create a pool of hot air above the heater, while the rest of the room is heated less. Use a small desk fan to mix the air and even out the room air temperature. Set heater and other thermostats at the minimum temperature you find comfortable. The higher the thermostat is set, the higher the heating costs. Heat pumps are air warmers not foot toasters. For spot heating you need a radiant electric or portable fan heater. If your heat pump tends to freeze up on cold mornings, use a cheap fan heater to help the heat pump get the room up to temperature. Itll only cost 30 cents for half an hour or so. Once the room is warm, switch off the fan heater.

Temporary double-glazing is a cheap way of reducing heat loss through windows. A dehumidifier reduces dampness and delivers more heat to the room than it uses in electricity.

4 5

Heat pumps deliver the cheapest heat to your home. Woodburners and natural gas flued heaters are next best. A heat-transfer kit will help stop a woodburner from overheating the lounge, while leaving the rest of the house cold.

10

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And lastly dont forget ...

Heating your home is most efficient when youre using the right products for your needs.

Make the most of winter by keeping cosy, warm and healthy.

For more information on efficient heating, insulation, ventilation, and tips on how to have a warm, comfortable and healthy home, visit the ENERGYWISE website

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