MODERN HOMES IN N.Z. HAVE LESS COMFORT TODAY

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 15, Issue 82, 14 August 1950, Page 4

MODERN HOMES IN N.Z. HAVE LESS COMFORT TODAY

People with new houses in the Bay of Plenty will probably be interested in the remarks of Dr L Bastings, of the Dominion Physical Laboratory, that the typical new house in the Dominion today has not the comfort that was built into the standard house of 30 years ago. It is colder in winter, more difficult to keep cool in summer and difficult to ventilate effectively without draughts.

Thirty years ago, said Dr Bastings, timber was used generously; frames were clad inside and out with timber, with scrim and paper lining and ceilings were usually also of timber, dressed or again scrimmed and papered. Roofs were clad with corrugated iron, with timber sarking underneath. Windows were from 10 to 12 per cent of the floor area. Very Different !

The modern house was very different. External coverings were not often of wood and even so were in general not so adequate a protection against the elements. The use of wallboard linings had increased considerably the escape of internal heat, and wall surfaces tended to be colder than in an all-timber house. The passing of the open fireplace, except in the living room had altered ventilation, and the much' tighter construction consequent upon the use of wallboards had restricted the routes by which ventilating air could enter and so had entered to draughts. “We cannot go back to the traditional New Zealand house, but we should endeavour to retrieve the favourable characteristics of those houses in some reasonable way, if possible,” said Dr Bastings.

His answer was that some heat insulating material must be used. Cork, pumice, flock and dry sawdust thought good insulators, were not suitable for building purposes; pumice concrete and cellular con-* crete were very prone to cracking.

The only kind of material which appeared suited was mineral wool, but unfortunately it was expensive.

A house of simple outline held heat better than one of elaborate outline, and a room with three outside walls was liable to be the most uncomfortable room in the house in winter. A large area of glass was very pleasant in sunny weather, but glass dissipated heat much more rapidly - than a corresponding area of wall unless well curtained.

Value of Carpets “I need hardly elaborate on the value of carpets on floors especially of the modern body carpet, the popularity of which has probably been a corollary of the modern cold domestic structure,” said Dr Bastings.

The traditional open fire was very pleasant to sit by—especially when good fuel was abundant and cheap, But it was not cheap in recent times and the open fire was notoriously inefficient, for only 15 to 20 per cent of the heat found its way into the room.

Therefore, said Dr Bastings, more attention was being given to types of closed stoves which gave 45 per cent efficiency; they were very popular in England and were just beginning to appear on the New Zealand market.