What's an acceptable indoor temperature?

[Sydney]

Where exactly in Brisbane did you live ? I wear shorts 75% of the year here so nothing wrong with my circulation but cant answer for all the others that have said the same.

Sorry mate didn't mean you. I was referring to the "wearers" of thermals to go to bed.

[Guest Julz]

My children dont have bad circulation, they were COLD! When its 3 degrees outside and you live in a house with no heating or insulation it is very cold.

 

...and before anyone jumps in saying its never that cold http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/brrrisbane-braces-for-more-cold-mornings-20120802-23h88.html

[Mongrel]

The difference is the temp difference here in Perth I go to work on the motorbike temp at work 1 to 2 degs in winter first thing go to the kitchen bit turn the tap on then **** it off to get me fingers back working , after a couple if hours sun comes up and stand there like a snake absorbing the heAt l ol

But the thing here in winter the differential in the temp which can be 29. Degrees

[Sydney]

My children dont have bad circulation, they were COLD! When its 3 degrees outside and you live in a house with no heating or insulation it is very cold.

 

...and before anyone jumps in saying its never that cold http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/brrrisbane-braces-for-more-cold-mornings-20120802-23h88.html

Why didn't you buy a heater ?

​

[Guest guest74886]

Crappy gas ducted heating system keeps switching off even though it says heat on! Just wondering if it has some 'Eco' level or something where it switches off at say 19/20 degrees as it never seems to get above this. OH says that's probably because the indoor should be 19 degrees not the 23 that I want....

 

so how warm do you like it and can you achieve it with your heating system?

 

I would guess that there is an internal thermostatic control to prevent the unit from overheating, so again at a guess it maybe that the filters on it need cleaning either on the input or output sides or the vents are closed or blocked on the delivery ducts or the delivery ducts are blocked somewhere, after that it could be that the room stat is faulty and not registering the true temperature in the rooms or the stat is placed over the top of a heating duct and therefore registering the temperature rise faster than its happening, like putting the thermostat in the smallest room with a big radiator, failing all of that then the boiler is overheating and cutting out on the safety thermostat due to a fault on the heat exchanger and needs to be serviced.

[Que Sera Sera]

The difference is the temp difference here in Perth I go to work on the motorbike temp at work 1 to 2 degs in winter first thing go to the kitchen bit turn the tap on then **** it off to get me fingers back working , after a couple if hours sun comes up and stand there like a snake absorbing the heAt l ol

But the thing here in winter the differential in the temp which can be 29. Degrees

My OH works nights and he rides his motorbike home at 4am and would agree with that. Cold is cold wherever you are. He then however gets in a warm toasty bed with a great big hotwaterbottle (me ) to warm up on. OOH those cold feet! :elvis:

[Guest Ptp113]

Why didn't you buy a heater ?

​

 

​Pleeeease, don't use logic on PIO, it doesn't go down well

[Rugby Lad]

Bollox. Lazy poms need to get off their backsides and fix their abode(s). Who do they think is going to do it, Mickey Mouse??

 

The landlord if they're in a rented property. We own a house in Adelaide and our tenants live better than we do as we put new cooling/heating, oven, dishwasher, solar heating system etc in when we left or since. Saying that we bought it in 2007 when it was 8 months old and the build quality and insulation is atrocious.

 

The rentals we've lived in since have been owned by a retired property investor and Teacher Housing Commission NSW. Of course we have spent a lot of time making the houses much nicer to live in but when the landlord refuses to spend a single penny on maintenance let alone improvements why should a short term tenant pay on top of the extortionate rent?

[Guest Ptp113]

The landlord if they're in a rented property. We own a house in Adelaide and our tenants live better than we do as we put new cooling/heating, oven, dishwasher, solar heating system etc in when we left or since. Saying that we bought it in 2007 when it was 8 months old and the build quality and insulation is atrocious. The rentals we've lived in since have been owned by a retired property investor and Teacher Housing Commission NSW. Of course we have spent a lot of time making the houses much nicer to live in but when the landlord refuses to spend a single penny on maintenance let alone improvements why should a short term tenant pay on top of the extortionate rent?

 

Then move elsewhere. Poms come up with excuses for everything, but they just don't wash.

[Skani]

The difference is the temp difference here in Perth I go to work on the motorbike temp at work 1 to 2 degs in winter first thing go to the kitchen bit turn the tap on then **** it off to get me fingers back working

 

What's wrong with ya? Get some heated handlebar grips, ya dill!!!:rolleyes::wink:

[Rugby Lad]

Then move elsewhere. Poms come up with excuses for everything, but they just don't wash.

 

I know I really shouldn't bother engaging you - you only reply with one or two lines of trite crap but here goes.

 

Have you any idea of the state of the rental market at the moment? You essentially take whatever you can get, there is virtually no choice. The only sensible thing that you ever say on this site is "move to / live where you can find work" - excellent advice. But it does narrow down your housing options. As someone who's moved house 16 times this century (not counting temporary moves) moving is a very expensive and time consuming exercise. Why do it more than absolutely necessary?

 

EDIT. Just to add this is not a "Pom" thing either. All of my Australian colleagues are in exactly the same position wrt rentals. (I accept that this is because we are in a job where we can be posted anywhere in the State.)

 

Your idea that only Poms suffer from poor housing is laughable. I go into Australian's homes every day and can see with my own eyes.

[Guest Ptp113]

I know I really shouldn't bother engaging you - you only reply with one or two lines of trite crap but here goes.

 

Have you any idea of the state of the rental market at the moment? You essentially take whatever you can get, there is virtually no choice. The only sensible thing that you ever say on this site is "move to / live where you can find work" - excellent advice. But it does narrow down your housing options. As someone who's moved house 16 times this century (not counting temporary moves) moving is a very expensive and time consuming exercise. Why do it more than absolutely necessary?

 

EDIT. Just to add this is not a "Pom" thing either. All of my Australian colleagues are in exactly the same position wrt rentals. (I accept that this is because we are in a job where we can be posted anywhere in the State.)

 

Your idea that only Poms suffer from poor housing is laughable. I go into Australian's homes every day and can see with my own eyes.

 

I just noticed you're in Walgett. Nothing more needs to be said.........

[Mongrel]

What's wrong with ya? Get some heated handlebar grips, ya dill!!!:rolleyes::wink:

 

I had em on my BMW but my mechanic Dek , warned me against the aftermarket Oxford types the grips burn out a lot of the time , I'm a after some from the wreckers and when my clunker dies get an old bm tourer , I just commute on it , 600 km a week , so it's got a bit of mileage lol

[Bridgeman]

The thermostat would never go above 17c for us in the UK and given our home here has great insulation, we don't actually need a heater to have the house at a comfortable temp during the evening.

 

We are concerned about the state of/lack of insulation in houses in Oz. I note you are in Brisbane. Did you do the insulation yourself of can you recommend the builder? Are some builders better than others? Or is it better to go for an older property? Not sure about newer houses having good insulation. We are in Perth and renting a house which is around 3 years old, but it's freezing in winter. We have been looking at the UK Kit homes which seem to have brilliant insulation, but can't find any equivalent here.

[MicheleW]

We are concerned about the state of/lack of insulation in houses in Oz. I note you are in Brisbane. Did you do the insulation yourself of can you recommend the builder? Are some builders better than others? Or is it better to go for an older property? Not sure about newer houses having good insulation. We are in Perth and renting a house which is around 3 years old, but it's freezing in winter. We have been looking at the UK Kit homes which seem to have brilliant insulation, but can't find any equivalent here.

 

Our property is actually an older one, just over 50 years old and double brick and tile. It is not open plan and the previous owners did all the work with regards to insulation so we haven't had to do a thing. It was a conscious decision of ours not to go new build, in part due to the open plan nature of them and also the size of the blocks, which are getting smaller all the time. If you are thinking of building, you need to steer away from the big building companies and get yourself an architect and builder and spend the extra money to get exactly what you want insulation wise. There is no point scrimping on costs at the beginning and finding yourself having to pay a fortune in heating costs.

 

To be perfectly honest, what suits us temperature wise doesn't sound like it would suit many others, so while I think our house is a comfortable temp at night, I am sure there are many more that would say that it is too cold and they would be rugged up in front of a heater.

[Guest Ptp113]

Our property is actually an older one, just over 50 years old and double brick and tile. It is not open plan and the previous owners did all the work with regards to insulation so we haven't had to do a thing. It was a conscious decision of ours not to go new build, in part due to the open plan nature of them and also the size of the blocks, which are getting smaller all the time. If you are thinking of building, you need to steer away from the big building companies and get yourself an architect and builder and spend the extra money to get exactly what you want insulation wise. There is no point scrimping on costs at the beginning and finding yourself having to pay a fortune in heating costs.

 

To be perfectly honest, what suits us temperature wise doesn't sound like it would suit many others, so while I think our house is a comfortable temp at night, I am sure there are many more that would say that it is too cold and they would be rugged up in front of a heater.

 

​What is the o'night temp in your place if you don't mind me asking?

[Guest guest74886]

I just noticed you're in Walgett. Nothing more needs to be said.........

 

It really is becoming somewhat comic this portrayal of us poor immigrants who can't make it here in the land of the, oh, so advanced Australia, and who keep choosing the wrong place to live in even tho we are often economically successful here.

Get a grip,we all know this is a country that has problems one of which is its original inhabitants, any nation of so called advanced thinkers would have solved this 50 years ago but this great nation is determined to stand on the sidelines wringing its hands until they have all either perished or lost their nationhood and become honorary white men and women.

Exercising some restraint with the homespun philosophy to those who still believe in the magic pudding would help us all to have a dialogue without intelligence being constantly called into question or is that the real beef, that the immigrants are still the smartasses.

[Guest Julz]

Oh we did use heaters which were about as much use as a chocolate teapot in an open plan house with no insulation or double glazing.

[Guest guest74886]

We are concerned about the state of/lack of insulation in houses in Oz. I note you are in Brisbane. Did you do the insulation yourself of can you recommend the builder? Are some builders better than others? Or is it better to go for an older property? Not sure about newer houses having good insulation. We are in Perth and renting a house which is around 3 years old, but it's freezing in winter. We have been looking at the UK Kit homes which seem to have brilliant insulation, but can't find any equivalent here.

 

You won't, there are no imports of kit homes from elsewhere for a whole raft of problems tied to the unions and the resistance to real indutrialised building here, it would threaten too many cosy monopolies and highlight how the consumer is ripped off by the building industry here.

Insulation only goes into roof spaces here and is often too thin to limit heat loss/ heat gain and double glazing is almost unheard of, wall insulation is not required and the Building regs here do not quote heat loss calculations for walls, etc nor are energy efficient heating / cooling systems mandated here so it's up to the developers who take the cheapest options all the time.

If you have a new build done for you research the best options re insulation to walls, roof and windows and heating/cooling altho you will find the cost of incorporating them very high because they are not easily available and builders often have very limited expertise in using them.

[Skani]

You won't, there are no imports of kit homes from elsewhere for a whole raft of problems

 

You can buy a German Baufritz kit home in Australia.

 

Insulation only goes into roof spaces here and is often too thin to limit heat loss/ heat gain and double glazing is almost unheard of, wall insulation is not required and the Building regs here do not quote heat loss calculations for walls,

 

From that I take it that Queensland IS very different from other parts of Australia.

Wall, underfloor and ceiling insulation are all standard on new builds here.

Double glazing is used both in new builds and retrofitting. All the local window manufacturers supply it and some also offer triple glazing.

 

Heat loss calculations for walls and R values and recommended insulation for different areas of Australia have been available for decades. They were certainly available in the 1970s when I was designing a house.

[Guest chris955]

It seems to come down to a resistance to accepting that a house in a 'hot' country can possibly be cold. Our house in sub tropical Brisbane was freezing in the winter (nothing to do with lazy poms), they are just built down to a standard and even the most up to date standards are still seriously lacking, it is just a fact.

[MicheleW]

You can buy a German Baufritz kit home in Australia.

 

 

 

From that I take it that Queensland IS very different from other parts of Australia.

Wall, underfloor and ceiling insulation are all standard on new builds here.

Double glazing is used both in new builds and retrofitting. All the local window manufacturers supply it and some also offer triple glazing.

 

Heat loss calculations for walls and R values and recommended insulation for different areas of Australia have been available for decades. They were certainly available in the 1970s when I was designing a house.

 

Please don't let facts get in the way... :rolleyes:

[Skani]

Please don't let facts get in the way... :rolleyes:

 

Damn - done it again. :rolleyes: Memory must be affected by that senility harpodom has wished on me.:wink:

[Paul1Perth]

We are concerned about the state of/lack of insulation in houses in Oz. I note you are in Brisbane. Did you do the insulation yourself of can you recommend the builder? Are some builders better than others? Or is it better to go for an older property? Not sure about newer houses having good insulation. We are in Perth and renting a house which is around 3 years old, but it's freezing in winter. We have been looking at the UK Kit homes which seem to have brilliant insulation, but can't find any equivalent here.

 

Even putting insulation in the loft yourself should make heaps of difference. It doesn't cost a fortune and is fairly easy to do. It's not been cold enough yet to even think about the house getting cold. Only just started wearing a jumper and tracky bottoms instead of shorts at night.

[Guest Ptp113]

You won't, there are no imports of kit homes from elsewhere for a whole raft of problems tied to the unions and the resistance to real indutrialised building here, it would threaten too many cosy monopolies and highlight how the consumer is ripped off by the building industry here.

Insulation only goes into roof spaces here and is often too thin to limit heat loss/ heat gain and double glazing is almost unheard of, wall insulation is not required and the Building regs here do not quote heat loss calculations for walls, etc nor are energy efficient heating / cooling systems mandated here so it's up to the developers who take the cheapest options all the time.

If you have a new build done for you research the best options re insulation to walls, roof and windows and heating/cooling altho you will find the cost of incorporating them very high because they are not easily available and builders often have very limited expertise in using them.

There are so many outright lies in this post it beggars belief. How about you give it a break and post factual data for once?