Draught-proofing my sharehouse

Like many students in Canberra, I rent with friends in a 1940s, double brick house. It’s got plenty of charm and character, however it’s so cold that we can see our breath inside the house, and it’s only May! As a student sharehouse, we can’t afford to run the central gas heating, especially with all the heat loss we would experience due to gaps and draughts.

While I dream of living in a house with great insulation and passive design, I recently learnt all about rental friendly options for making my home more energy efficient, environmentally friendly, and warm for the winter.

ACT Government’s Everyday Climate Choices has a fantastic, free initiative called the Renters Home Energy Program. We signed up for a free energy assessment of our home and were guided through the most cost-effective and energy efficient ways to stay warm. I also hosted SEE Change’s draught proofing workshop at my house, as I felt many people would benefit from this as we head into winter. Many thanks to Jeff Knowles, who came to our home for the energy assessment and ran the SEE Change workshop!

Following the energy assessment and workshop, here are the simple ways I transformed our house:

Windows

We learnt that our windows were the thinnest glass you can get! Definitely not great for Canberra winter. To fix this, we found out that you can transform windows using cloth tape and bubble wrap, to imitate double glazed glass. I learnt that north and east windows leak less than the southern and western windows. We decided to target the south facing windows in our home, which were a source of cold and condensation in our living room and my bedroom. I put a sheet of bubble wrap on the inside of the windows, with the bubbles facing the glass, and sealed this to the window frame using cloth tape. The cloth tape is easy to apply and wont chip paint when removed, perfect to use in a rental. This solution made such a difference, and was so cheap and easy to do!

Doors

The gaps around our doors are very noticeable and you can see the light coming in through them at night. These gaps are a source of heat loss and cold draughts. To tackle this issue, we got some foam tape. I applied the tape to the doorframe on the side where the door closes. The tape we sourced has a ridge in the middle, which means it is flexible and the closing action of hinged door compresses the tape and creates a seal. We also used a twin door draught stopper to seal the bottom of the laundry door, which was a source of draught from the laundry into the kitchen. These types of seals are great for internal doors as they can be easily applied and removed.

Vents

We have an evaporative cooler vent in the living room of the house. These vents are another source of heat loss and cool air coming in. We covered the vents with clear contact to seal them off for the winter. Clear contact is adhesive, cheap, and easy to apply and remove. Another draught source easily sealed!

Heaters

Jeff told us that the most energy efficient heaters to use are electric blow heaters, rather than oil column heaters. We also learned that pedestal fans can be used to direct the heat down a hallway. We are opting for blow heaters to heat the rooms, and are going to avoid using the central gas heating. We find that this works very well for our small sized rooms and we can use our electric blankets and hot water bottles at night.

Bathroom

Getting out of the warm shower in winter is so hard! So I looked for ways to make it a bit warmer in there. We couldn’t put bubble wrap over the windows, as they are needed for ventilation. Jeff suggested we turn the bathroom door into an “outside door”, meaning we seal the gaps around the door so cold air can’t get in. To do this, we added foam tape to the door frame. If you have the ability to, infrared heat lights are great as they heat bodies rather than the air.

These tips and tricks make a world of difference, especially for students in old share houses! I would highly suggest booking a free renter’s home energy assessment if you are a renter like me. Head to: https://www.climatechoices.act.gov.au/policy-programs/renters-home-energy-program

If you would like more information on draught proofing here are some great sources