[clg]

OK, so the cold house thread got me. I have been looking at realenz and I have been quite pleased with the houses I have looked at in our price range. We are thinking 300-400 in the Wellington area or 400-500 around Auckland (we have not totally made up our minds yet).

Most of the ads say little about hearing/insulation so I expect we are going to need to add both. Does that sound correct?

Do newer (last few years and I know to be careful about damp houses) have better insulation heating or do they still lack it?

From a budgeting standpoint, can anyone give any pointers about what it would cost to insualte and add heat to a 4 bedroom house?

Basically, I want to be able to get a nice, warm house inside of the above price ranges. Does that seem reasonable?

Thanks!

Chris

[Dave & Sandra]

Hiya

See my post. Topic 'Cold weather....house insulation'

Sandra

[karltsmith]

Hi Clg,

Newer homes do tend to have better insulation however much depends on the original spec and the type of design. Many of the newer plaster finish homes (which I don't like incidently) are reputed to be quite warm. Some of these designs incorperate walls constructed from cavity polystyrene blocks which are then poured with concrete to achieve a pretty good 'R' value. Leaky house syndrome is something else to look out for! The prices you are looking at are about right for Auckland and Welly for a average to above Average house dependent on size location etc. North Shore prices are, as an indication for you, NZ$280K (2 bed untit), NZ$350-400K (3 bed town house), NZ$450-500 (4 bed House), NZ$600-750( 4/5 bed house on a larger site with sea views or in a good school zone) after that of course the skies the limit!

Karl :nice1

[clg]

Thanks for the info. I don't think the cold would bother me that much except we will have a baby around so...

Our current house in Los Angeles had no insulation and no heat when we bought it. It is not just NZ that lacks it. We just bundled up and did OK. Once we had a baby on the way though we insulated and added heat. I know LA seems warm but let me tell you... We had mornings when we woke up to around 10c inside.

The prices for adding heat don't look bad so we can always retrofit.

Chris

[Dave & Sandra]

Hi y'all

We have now had our heat pump installed at a cost of $14,100 :wah . Even though it's warm now during the day, well not today :no , it's still chilly at night so we turn them on then - it makes a huge difference. We've got one outlet in the living room, one in 'family room', and one in the bedroom. The bedroom has an outlet leading to the bathroom which should heat up the bathroom at the same time and it's on a timer to come on first thing in the morning and last thing at night. It's basically air conditioning but set to pump out heat as well as cool air, so we have the best of both worlds. If it ever gets hot enough here in Feilding :roll: . Also, you can have it set to be a dehumidifier. One other advantage is that it takes dust out of the air so may be good for somebody with allergies.

For those interested, this is what it looks like in the house - just like an air con
http://www.msnusers.com/2od087grr5gqgielm63883t860/Documents/Pictures%2FHP%20Outlet.jpg
and this is what you get outside
http://www.msnusers.com/2od087grr5gqgielm63883t860/Documents/Pictures%2FHeat%20Pump.jpg

You can also have wall-mounted units if you don't like the ones in the ceiling. So put some money aside if you are going to buy a house without any heating apart from a wood burner. It cost a lot but is worth it and of course puts value on the house. :hopeso

You can tell I've got my digi cam software now - pictures everywhere from now on :laugh

Sandra

[Gran]

Basically, whichever kind of a house you get the heating will be cheaper if you buy on the NORTHERN side of the hill or on the flat facing north. So take a compass out when you go househunting.

[Dave & Sandra]

Forgot to mention. The installers said if we ran it constantly, all three units, for 8 hours a day, it would probably cost about $60 a month. Not bad :yes