Grey Days

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[quote:5755f36c75="SteveyC"]You gotta remember a lot of the houses aren't insulated and don't have central heating so it's gonna be colder even if outside isn't as cold. Trick is to get your house insulated when you get over here and buy one. More and more and being built with this in mind now tho and it's only a matter of time before building regulations (as in England) catch up across NZ as it has in much of the west, forcing the issue of energy efficiency etc.

Yey at last a subject I can speak confidently about amongst all the wine, boats, ITAs, EOIs etc. Insulation...it's what I do... :icon_redface: :icon_sad:[/quote:5755f36c75]

[color=darkred:5755f36c75][b:5755f36c75]Three-quarters of a million for clean home heating[/b:5755f36c75][/color:5755f36c75]
Hon David Benson-Pope
13/04/2006

The Government is committing an extra $750,000 to two projects to improve clean and efficient home heating and reduce air pollution, Environment Minister David Benson-Pope announced today.

Environment Canterbury?s Clean Heat Project has installed ceiling and underfloor insulation, clean heating appliances and other energy efficiency measures in over 5,000 Christchurch homes since 2002. The Government will contribute $500,000 to cover the costs of a further 150 retrofits.

Nelson City Council?s Clean Heat/Warm Homes scheme has installed insulation, clean heating devices and other energy efficiency measures in nearly 300 properties since 2004. The Government will contribute $250,000 to cover the costs of 70 more retrofits.

?Heating your house with an open fire or an old wood burner is bad for your health and the environment. We support initiatives that help New Zealanders make better choices when it comes to home heating,? said Mr Benson-Pope. He was in Timaru today visiting two homes that had been retrofitted for energy efficiency.

?We support these projects because they ?get on with it? and deal with air pollution resulting from home heating. Both projects have a very practical approach and really make things better for New Zealanders,? said Mr Benson-Pope.

Home heating, especially from open fires and old wood burners, is the major source of air pollution in New Zealand. The Ministry for the Environment introduced National Environmental Standards last year that require local and regional councils to reduce the air pollution in their region.

The government has provided more than $1.1 million to fund a range of initiatives that assist local government meet new air quality targets:

? $800,000 for new air quality monitoring for 15 councils in the country
? $100,000 to survey home heating in New Zealand
? $70,000 for understanding the social drivers behind home heating choice
? $50,000 for evaluating different heating types
? $100,000 for two Warm Homes trials in Tokoroa and Timaru; and
? $160,000 for a new study examining the performance review of the wood burner standard.
"I know that cleaning up the air is a challenge but it is one that we are all up to. Kiwis are known for their ingenuity and this issue is one that will require ingenuity to fix," said Mr Benson-Pope.

I can see where they're coming from with the insulation thing. As I've said before, we have central heating and an open fire but the house is still cold. We think this probably has to do with it being a couple of hundred years old but also, we think the insulation is probably inadequate, the original doors that we keep for authenticity don't fit properly, we don't have double glazing and we have 24 windows in the house so can't afford to fit it and anyway we really don't think upvc double glazing would do much for the aesthetics of a georgian cottage. Just like Stevey says, our house is colder inside than it is outside which is nice in the few warm days we get in summer ( yeah, I do remember having a few!), but God in winter it's bloody feezing!

We'll definately be taking Steveys advice when we finally get there and settle. An open fire is nice though or a log burner, they're really cosy and I think they would provide a nice homey country English nostalgic feel. I like them in the garden too, you know those little chimerea things? It's great to sit outside on an autumn night with a glass of red, a blanket and a book. :icon_biggrin:

Nice try getting back on topic, but...

Yes, Glenda, "Crusade" was awful. I don't know how they can show their faces in public after that. We're watching Bab 5 for the third or fourth time, and I'm finally understanding some of the foreshadowing and following the megaplot. Another fun & smart (and short-lived) scifi series was "Firefly" (and it's big screen offshoot "Serenity"). You just have to suspend disbelief when they talk in a "gol durn" way, and show colonists wearing calico bonnets and driving Conestoga wagons.

I live in squamish B.C. its also known as the 'west coast'. and us locals have nick named it the 'WET coast', I was visiting my brother who lives in Napier NZ, I was there for a couple of months, its in Hawkes Bay. It was march, and april, I had 3 days of 'over cast'. 3 days, my bro said he could count on one hand how many actually rainy days he has in a yr there. My sister lives in Wellington, she doesn't have enough fingers or toes to count how many gray cloudy rainy days she gets a yr. :icon_mrgreen:

[quote:e6af1933a0="milondon"] My sister lives in Wellington, she doesn't have enough fingers or toes to count how many gray cloudy rainy days she gets a yr. :icon_mrgreen:[/quote:e6af1933a0]


:119: No, no, no! We were really starting to pin Welli and the Kapiti Coast down, but I really don't think I can live with those grey days. I fancied Hawkes Bay to begin with but was worried it was too quiet and too far away from the universities and stuff. Lauren says she won't want to live away but I reckon given a few months she'll be begging to live in.

It's really confusin when you haven't been and seen the place, trying to pick somewhere that's got somethin for everyone, good standard schools, further education, a good population base for business, a good feel for the arts! Can't believe Wellington is a grey city!!! What are we gonna do????

Please help [-o<

I recall that Welly (in November) had some marine fog in the mornings, but that the day usually cleared. Even so, the overcast didn't seem very heavy. Not like it can be where I live now.

[quote:38c141f185="Dawn Marron"][quote:38c141f185="milondon"] My sister lives in Wellington, she doesn't have enough fingers or toes to count how many gray cloudy rainy days she gets a yr. :icon_mrgreen:[/quote:38c141f185]


:119: No, no, no! We were really starting to pin Welli and the Kapiti Coast down, but I really don't think I can live with those grey days. I fancied Hawkes Bay to begin with but was worried it was too quiet and too far away from the universities and stuff. Lauren says she won't want to live away but I reckon given a few months she'll be begging to live in.

It's really confusin when you haven't been and seen the place, trying to pick somewhere that's got somethin for everyone, good standard schools, further education, a good population base for business, a good feel for the arts! Can't believe Wellington is a grey city!!! What are we gonna do????

Please help [-o<[/quote:38c141f185]

Spooky that, we thought exactly the same, originally Napier was first choice. Still gonna have a look but it's slipped to 3rd (4th maybe even, Taffy and Welshgirl permitting :icon_wink: :icon_mrgreen: )

Behind Welly and Christchurch.

Ultimately tho you just gotta google climate stats NZ. Pretty sure you'll find Welly to have less rainfall and more sunshine hours than Auckland, just lower average temperatures. It's fascinating when you do delve into the climate stats for the different areas in NZ, go do it man.

Also don't forget fingers and toes only equate to 20 so even if you add 50% to that again and get 30 overcast days in a [i:38c141f185]year[/i:38c141f185] you're still looking at less than 1 every 10 days. About 8 times better than UK I reckon.

[quote:7421dcdff8="SteveyC"]Spooky that, we thought exactly the same, originally Napier was first choice. Still gonna have a look but it's slipped to 3rd (4th maybe even, Taffy and Welshgirl permitting :icon_wink: :icon_mrgreen: )

Behind Welly and Christchurch.[/quote:7421dcdff8]

Let me know where else you're considering so that I can cross those off my list too then Stevey :005:

Har de har!!! You're not the first and you won't be the last I'm sure, to make that comment.

Hmmm perhaps there's a hint to be got *ponders* nahhhh! :115:

[quote:b94f73d0a5="SteveyC"] (4th maybe even, Taffy and Welshgirl permitting :icon_wink: :icon_mrgreen: )
[/quote:b94f73d0a5]

Permitting what? You to come and live in Hamilton? :017: