top of page

Why upgrade your old joinery?

Writer's picture: Dyann StewartDyann Stewart

Updated: Apr 6, 2023

After 26 years in the window and door industry, I HONESTLY never considered that a retrofit upgrade would deliver the results ours did. I always thought that any return on investment was in comfort, not actual dollars in energy savings. I really should have known better, but back before the 2022 energy code changes, windows and doors in New Zealand were really dealing with 1970s understanding of energy efficiency. Unlike in Europe, where thermal break technology was the norm, New Zealand was offering cold aluminium frames with upgraded double glazing.


If you follow the link below you will be taken to the full article written in February 2021 which covers the work.



Since writing that article in 2021 we have been through two New Zealand winters and the difference is amazing. Our house now retains heat, so I'm able to heat the dwelling far more efficiently. I followed up the double glazing with a heat pump, as there was no point in adding a heat pump if the house was so drafty and the windows so leaky, that I was heating the outside air. Adding a heat pump has been a blessing and a curse. Our heating bills are actually lower, as we have achieved a more efficient air leakage seal and we retain more heat. But the problem is, I'm so OVER BEING COLD OR TOO HOT in my own home, that I now use the heat pump for both winter and summer. So my heating and cooling power usage has increased, but so has my comfort, I would NEVER take it back. I might however have chosen a different heating source than a heat pump.


But that is a discussion for another article.



14 views0 comments

Comments


bottom of page