Cold homes are such a concern in this country the government has just launched a $142 million programme to help some Kiwi households cover two-thirds of the cost of installing ceiling and underfloor insulation.
That's a great start when it comes to helping to make homes warmer and drier in a nation where, according to a Statistics New Zealand survey, nearly half of us live in homes so chilly they leave us shivering in winter. They also lead to huge power bills.
However, even if you have fantastic insulation, as much as 30 per cent of the heat from your home may still be escaping via a source many of us forget about – windows.
Glazing is the "weakest link" when it comes to insulating a building. A single pane window loses 20 times as much heat as the same area in an adjacent well-insulated wall, thanks to radiant heat being transferred from one side of the glass to the other and then lost outside.
There are several steps you can take to reduce the amount of heat lost through windows, from getting snug-fitting thermal-lined curtains and blinds through to installing double or even triple-glazed windows. While these windows are very good at keeping warm air in, they also tend to be very costly.
A significantly less expensive but extremely effective way of retaining heat is to cover your existing windows in a special film known as low-emissivity, or "low-e".
3M™ make a low-e film called Thinsulate™ Climate Control Window Film, which improves the insulation value of a typical single pane window to close to that of a double pane window.
A virtually invisible film that is professionally installed, it barely changes the way windows look from either inside or out. But, says 3M product specialist Adam Adair, it increases energy efficiency and helps save money on your heating bill.
"It's an efficient and cost-effective way of meeting your window insulation needs. It can increase the insulation performance of your windows by up to 40 per cent," he says, "and is a lot easier and more cost-effective than replacing them.
"So what you are doing is creating smarter windows."
Low-e films like Thinsulate work by reflecting radiant heat from windows, rather than transferring it from one side of the glass to the other, and losing it outside.
One of the added bonuses is that Thinsulate's technology keeps warm air inside in winter and cool air inside in summer.
So, if you have your heat pump switched to cooling, less of that air is being lost through your windows, keeping temperatures in your home bearable in our increasingly hotter summers. This also helps to reduce power bills.
"Whatever the climate, Thinsulate™ window film can help keep families comfortable all year," says Adair. "That means year-round savings."
There is also a newly-available tinted version that blocks more of the sun coming into your home in summer, further reducing glare and helping to protect furniture, floors, upholstery and artwork from becoming faded in the sun.
"Window films have been proving their worth in residential and commercial applications since 3M received the first sun control window film patent 52 years ago, and Thinsulate technology has been used to insulate our coats, gloves and blankets for nearly 50 years," says Adair.
3M™ Thinsulate™ Window Film is professionally installed by a network of select 3M window film installers located across New Zealand.