I generally push for higher standards in building energy-efficient homes. It is far easier to build houses that are more energy-efficient, than to retrofit (upgrade an existing house). Not only is it easier, it is cheaper, better on the environment etc etc etc. So as much as I can holler on and on about why the government is not doing a better job at ensuring we build more efficiently, I got a tiny dose of reality when I visited New Zealand years ago.
To be fair, New Zealand is quite different from Canada. The weather in cities like Auckland and Wellington rarely dips below 0 Celsius and they don’t get much snow. In fact, the plants there are all tropical-looking. There are spots in New Zealand in the mountains where I remember hiking through a bit of snow, but I don’t recall any residential houses in those areas. Where all the residential homes are, it seems they are built for a tropical climate. Which is great, until it gets cold. You’d think a Canadian is used to the cold. Well, let me explain the difference.
Canadian Cold
Every year, it gets REALLY cold in Canada. We will go through months when the central heating system (that’s right, a heating system like a furnace that heats the entire house) cycles on and off 24/7. Everything is heated. Everything is insulated. Many cracks are sealed up. When we take public transit, we wait outside, and when we get on the bus, it is heated. The subway is heated too. When we arrive at the restaurant, it too is heated. Everywhere is heated - even the not-so-nice places. We wear sweaters and winter coats; really warm winter coats.
New Zealand Cold
I was there in September which would be their winter time turning into spring and it got cold. But it wasn’t that cold - it was still above 0 - it only felt really cold because I never felt warmed up. I realized there was no insulation in the house. The windows were different. There was no furnace - maybe some room heaters here and there. As we travelled from Auckland in the North Island down to the South Island, I realized every restaurant was hit and miss when it came to heating. Most had some sort of space heating happening, but it wasn’t very efficient. I came to the realization that Canadians know how to centrally heat! We must have figured the art form of “in-home comfort” since we’re inside so much in the winter!
Obviously, there were some places that were far better than others and it is not like the entire country was a heating nightmare with heating costs going through the roof. I guess what struck me was that in Canada, heating efficiently is so much more important than it is in New Zealand because of our weather patterns.
You gotta choose your battles. In New Zealand, I guess heating and insulating is not as important as other things.
United States Sunbelt Hot
You know what else is interesting? Heating is not important in the southern belt of the United States, but they pay an arm and a leg for cooling costs. When it comes to cooling, the same principles apply for insulation - for the southern states, they need to insulate their homes to keep the hot air from coming INTO their cooled homes. We’ve got the opposite problem, and the same solution for both - seal and insulate.
If only more people would consider making this small investment to freeze their high energy bill costs.
