NZ catches death of cold - study

I would love to see homeowners take responsibility for this for their own homes. We know that heating is important and yet how many home owners scream poverty while making sure they have a PS3 and a sky subscription. We moved into an uninsulated house, knowing this we made sure we had the money to insulate, and know that actual heating is money we will have to invest - and yes it will be central heating as it is an old house and heat pumps aren't economical in odd shaped homes. Between us we earn too much to ever qualify for assistance from govt, in fact most people who work do. There is not enough good information about solar energy, we tried looking into it, it proved too confusing and required a huge investment of time just to figure out which one was going to work for us and required a quote for every model to tell us if we would save any money. Landlords need to get with it and properly insulate and heat definately, I know some who do but I am sure there are plenty who make their money by not, why should the govt have to pay them to do it. As for the nuclear power idea...any ideas on where you might want to put it in a earthquake prone country? It's a nice idea but at the end of the day it is not actually economical for NZ - even the experts say that. The row over a wind farm in Makara would pale hugely in comparison to those not wanting to live next to a nuclear power station, never mind being on a nuclear power waste dumpsite.

New houses should definitely not need central heating, let alone oil fired. We should take a lesson from Scandinavia and aim for houses that are so well insulated, simply body heat and heat from cooking is enough to maintain a constant temperature. They build in far colder climates and this level of insulation is the norm.

As for the current solution, its hard to say. The government could subsidise it, just like it could subsidise farmers, health, roading, and improve the justice system, transport, education and so on... and still offer a huge tax cut. Unfortunately we can't have everything subsidised, tax cut, and expect better services all round. Yes HNZ spent $65000, but I'd like to see anyone find a cheaper way of bringing 100 people from around the country to one place and hosting nearly 20 talks and seminars and getting them home again for cheaper. It sounds like a lot but they drove there and shared rooms, not that extravagent.

The reality is the countries with the highest living standards in the world have the highest tax rates. Sure we can dispute this because that $20/wk in the short term seems nicer, but try looking a bit further ahead, or at the bigger picture. Saving $15000 on medical expenses is a lot cheaper than saving $20/wk.

I imagine that a contributor not mentioned in this article is the depression that hits many low-income people during winter when all the bills seem higher.

If you can't afford to buy, you have to rely on the goodness of the landlords, and sadly the vast majority don't care. It's just an investment portfolio for these landed gentry.

Electricity costs (plus every other escalating cost these days) means that plugging in an extra heater and running a dehumidifier just aren't possible for us second class tenants.

A couple of years ago I got Bronchitis and was off work for 5 days either side of a weekend. I put my living conditions at the time, a cold, dark, damp flat as the main reason for my illness.

Our current landlord has looked in insulating our flat, but the way it was built makes it hard to do so and so instead purchased a dehumidifier for the flat which has made so much difference.

If you are thinking about insulating your house or would like more information on improving the energy efficiency of your house get in touch with the Sustainability Trust. They are a non-profit organisation that, among other projects, provide insulation retrofits to those on low incomes and rental properties. http://www.sustaintrust.org.nz/ http://www.sustaintrust.org.nz/OurProjects/Current%20Projects/Insulation_projects_main.htm

We are a family in a "high" income bracket, have two small children are both working parents. With the cost of childcare (we don't qualify for a subsidy), rising mortgage rates, sky rocketing petrol and food prices - we feel that we are just scraping by. It would take us years to save up to insulate our home, so if the "wealthy" can't afford to insulate their homes, what does that say for the elderly or those that aren't so well off?

I was staggered when I moved to New Zealand from the UK and moved into a newly-built home in Christchurch that had no form of central heating. Just an electric heater in the living room, and fan heaters in the bathroom. And this house was only a few years old! It seems to be a cultural thing amongst you Kiwis to heat one room, then wear about 15 layers in all the other rooms. Why don't you just heat the other rooms? It was particularly bizarre that a new house was built without any consideration to heating in a country that has several months of cold weather. No wonder Christchurch has one of the highest childhood asthma rates in the world.

Insulation only works if there is heat to keep in the house in the first place.

My wife starts coughing when it gets cold. Our flat is damp and cold and it affects our sleep and health considerably every winter. Quality of old housing in NZ is terrible. I used to think it was just Wellington, when I was living there, but now that I live in Auckland I realise that it's probably like that in all old houses. So when people demand high prices for old houses, we laugh.

The government should regulate for all housing and subsidise all insulation to enable everyone cheap access to warmer housing. That way, landlords won't be out of pocket so much. So, how about it? Or are you going to give cash to the poor... This is a big issue.

Thanks for the article to prove this phenomenon a fact. I am involved in helping out poor tenants and have lived in a poor housing area for 8 years. I have witnessed a few of my elderly neighbours disappearing since I moved in. I have made a hypothetical observation that more tenants die during winter than any other time during the year. It is also a time when tenants make more complaints about the state of maintenance and repair than any other issue. I suppose it would be too embarrassing if it showed that most of these folks die in HNZ properties. And after seeing the Property Managers spend $70,000 on a luxurious conference, I'm speechless!

The other contributing factor is the high cost of electricity.

OMG, the bureaucrats are after us!

I am not very surprised at the findings in this study and found New Zealand's rates of excess winter mortality were among the highest in the developed nations. The fact is that homes are not insulated is only one factor. It is bazaar to me that New Zealanders live in this way, and put themselves at risk and then on the other hand will not accept the failure of a housing policy or energy policy. Other factors include the ability to afford to pay for the heating. Landlords also have to look at themselves and also take responsibility for their properties and actively ensure that there properties are well heated, something that should earn a premium in rental income compared to uninsulated properties, real estate agents take note. I also find the fact that new Zealanders are so against the Nuclear option that is not only a sensible option for the future but would also produce power that was more affordable for the population compared to the expensive alternatives of wind and water. The Government needs to also take responsibility and actively encourage builders to install double glazing and oil fired central heating into all new builds as a requirement. Lets not pussy foot around with this, heating one room is something out of the dark ages but to combat the problem of living in healthy environments we must look at all sides of the issue and be more responsible and proactive in forcing change of attitudes .GST needs to be selectively employed on heating products, insulation products, power, and energy saving bulbs. Larger incentives need to come from government for the installation of solar heating, double glazing, and central heating not just to combat the issue of winter mortality but also as a policy of energy saving too.