Is moisture in your home putting your health at risk?
Books aren't the only thing Lower Hutt residents can take out at the library - soon they'll be able to borrow special kits to test how healthy their homes are.
The Home Energy Audit Toolkits (HEAT) will be available for people to book out through their local library in a couple of months, allowing residents to measure the temperatures and humidity levels in their homes, as well as energy usage.
"People are so accustomed to being cold and damp that they don't realise that life can be better," said Hutt City Council's eco-design adviser Greg Street.
Street has come to my house on a dark and rainy Monday morning in Lower Hutt to carry out a more thorough assessment of just how cold and damp my home is.
Last year he carried out 270 of these checks around the Hutt Valley, and the service is free.
There are only seven or eight eco-design advisers like Street in the country. He wants to see every council offering the same impartial service he does, to make people more aware of the changes they can make to their homes.
His job involves meeting residents in their houses - whether it's a landlord, tenant, or owner-occupier - checking the building from top to bottom, and talking to those living there about the problem areas.
One of the first things he points out in my home are the thin curtains, which will do little to keep heat in. Luckily, easily attachable block-out fabric that can hook into the existing curtains is a fairly cheap and simple fix.
The windows are another story - the aluminium framing in particular allows the heat to seep out. Double glazing and new joinery are the ideal option for a healthier home, but they go to the bottom of the list when cost is factored in.
Dashing around the house, Street checks the strength of my extractor fans, the flow of water in the shower, the heat in my bathroom taps (a bit high, apparently), and pokes his head underneath the house.
Greg Street measures the temperature on the chilly aluminium window frames. Photo / Melissa Nightingale
There's mould under there, but it's not a surprise.
"Generally the sub-floor ventilation is almost always inadequate, even if it meets the building code," Street said.
"Obviously for there to be no moisture present, it's pretty rare."
My house has no underfloor or sub-floor insulation, and not vapour barrier on the soil. Any house in the same situation will also have mould, he told me.
The mould and moisture rise up into the house, indirectly making it colder and less healthy for those inside, but fortunately the underfloor is easily accessible for insulation to be added in.
According to surveys given to people who have had assessments done on their homes, most of them will act on some of the suggestions Street gives them.
Having such assessments available to people was important to deal with the areas "shocking" health problems relating to cold, damp homes, he said.
The HEAT kit, as well as a Whare Hauora kit for monitoring room temperatures and humidity, will give residents the opportunity to assess their homes themselves.
"It's a tool with which you can educate yourself to some degree," Street said.
People can use the monitors to figure out where heat is being lost in the home, and can use the power usage monitors to find out how much energy is being used by an appliance.
"You would actually see the numbers of how things are performing."
Street is also an accredited Homestar assessor - meaning he can assess new homes and give them an overall rating on health, warmth and efficiency.
Homes could earn points for thermal performance, moisture control, water use, energy production, waste management, and how close they are to amenities, among other things.
Low-cost tips for a healthier, warmer home:
• Put thermal linings on all the curtains and cover exposed glass.
