HealthInfo Piki Te Ora Southern

Keeping your home warm & dry

Kia mau tonu te whakamahana me te whakamaroke o tōu kāinga

A cold or damp house can affect your health. To help prevent this, if you own your home you may be eligible for subsidies for insulation. To be eligible you must:

• be the home owner (owner-occupier) and have a Community Services Card or SuperGold combo card, or
• own and be living in a home in an area identified as lower-income (New Zealand Deprivation Index decile 9 or 10 area), and
• own a home built before 2008.

If you live in a rental property or you're a landlord, you should be aware of the new Healthy Homes Standard. These are standards that have been set by the government to make sure everyone in New Zealand can live in a healthy warm home.

Tips to help you keep your home as warm and dry as possible this winter

Get rid of dampness and stop heat escaping

• Air your home on warm sunny days or when it's windy.
• Use the ventilation fans in your kitchen and bathroom if you have them.
• Dry clothes outside in the sun rather than inside your home.
• Get a moisture barrier under the floor.
• Try to seal gaps around window and door frames to prevent draughts. Use curtains and door snakes to help keep the heat in.
• Take advantage of the sun by opening your curtains during the day and closing them at sunset.
• If tradesmen need to go in your roof, ask them to leave the insulation as it is. If you can, check whether they have done so.
• For subsidies on ceiling and underfloor insulation, which may be free, contact Cosy Homes (Otago), or Awarua Synergy (Southland).
• To reduce the amount of heat going out your windows, you can use bubble wrap as insulation. It makes inexpensive double glazing when securely taped to the window pane.

Get good winter curtains

• Make sure you have two-layer curtains that fit close to the window with no gaps.
• If you cannot afford good curtains, you can contact New Zealand Red Cross Invercargill Curtain Bank on (03) 218-4339, open Tuesday and Thursday between 12:30 pm and 2:00 pm.
• The Dunedin Curtain Bank distributes free, lined curtains to Community Services Card holders. Phone (03) 425-9678.

Spread your power bill

• You may be able to evenly spread your power bill payments across the year so that there are no surprises. Talk to your power company about how to do this.
• Make sure that you are on the right plan with the cheapest provider. Use Powerswitch.
• If you need help with your power bills, first contact your power company. You can also try Work and Income.

Other tips

Rheumatic fever is a serious illness that can be prevented by keeping your home warm and dry, and preventing the spread of germs. The following series of videos from the Ministry of Health give tips to help do this. There are nine short videos and they will automatically play in sequence.

  HealthInfo recommends the following pages

• Southern DHB:
  • Plan to be well this winter

    Tips for staying warm and healthy this winter.

  • Healthy homes

    Tips for drying out and heating up your home.

• Consumer NZ – 10 tips for staying warm for less

  Quick tips for keeping your home warm over winter.

Written by HealthInfo clinical advisers. Last reviewed March 2023.

Page reference: 564221

Review key: HIKEW-49776