If you’ve caught yourself battling with the heating in the office, the home, anywhere really – you’re not alone.
And it’s all to do with how our ‘winter tents’ (homes) are built.
Australian homes are not at ‘safe’ warmth levels according to the World Health Organisation.
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The unusually cold weather has sent temperature plummeting, with new research showing Aussie homes are struggling to warm up past 18C – the minimum recommended by the WHO.
University of Adelaide Professor of Housing Research Emma Baker said traditionally, our homes are built for warmer temperatures with many homes being poorly insulated as they were not designed to be heated.
‘Power used to be really cheap so Australian houses were basically designed as winter tents that you could pump a whole lot of energy into during winter and warm them up,’ Professor Baker said.
Now with energy prices skyrocketing people were struggling to pay the bills to keep warm.
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A frost interior isn’t just a temperature issue, it’s a health issue too.
‘We know that cold housing affects people’s blood pressure and their risk of cardiovascular disease, and obviously respiratory disease,’ Professor Baker said.
There have since been calls to raise the insulation standard in Australian rental properties, although Hayden Groves Real Estate Institute of Australia president argues ‘mandating such standards could be counter-productive in an already incredibly tight rental market.’
What do you think?
