Healthy Homes

Our homes and our health: what's the connection?

EECA provides a range of subsidies, other support and advice for homeowners wanting to keep warmer, drier and healthier through adding insulation to their homes, cleaning their heating devices and a range of other energy efficiency measures including solar water heating. click here

During the colder times of the year dampness, draughts and a lack of insulation make our homes more difficult to heat. The World Health Organisation recommends that houses are heated to a minimum of 18 degrees celsius to provide a healthy and comfortable environment. Indoor temperatures below 16 degrees increase the risk of respiratory disease.

Insulation study

The Univesity of Otago Wellington School of Medicine's Healthy Homes study demonstrated a significant improvement in the self-reported respiratory health of families whose homes were retrofitted with a standard package of ceiling insulation, draught-stopping around windows and doors, under-floor insulation and a polyethylene covering over the ground under the house. Once the houses were insulated:

they were drier and warmer
people reported that their houses felt significantly warmer
people in the insulated group used 23% less power than the control group – saving money as well as energy
there was a significant improvement in the self-reported health of all the occupants
there was a significant decrease in time off school for children and time off work for adults
there was a significant and positive difference in the number of visits to hospitals made by adults between the insulation and control group

The team has now followed up with a new study looking at the impact of heating.

Heating study - new research

In the school's new study, poor quality heating mechanisms were replaced with flued gas appliances, heat pumps and wood pellet burners, which are more efficient and don't produce emissions into the internal environment. (Unflued gas heaters are not recommended as they are known to generate significant amounts of moisture and nitrogen dioxide. Electric fan heaters are also not recommended.)

Preliminary results show that the better quality heating had significant benefits for children with asthma:

People felt warmer
Condensation was reduced
There was less mould and fewer mouldy smells
Levels of nitrogen dioxide were halved
Nitrogen dioxin is associated with coughing in children with asthma
Children reported less coughing and wheezing
Children reported fewer episodes of colds and ‘flu
Children reduced their days off school in winter and they had fewer visits to the GP.

Other things to think about

For people with asthma, there are a range of additional things to look at in the home environment. All people with asthma will have a trigger or triggers which initiate asthma symptoms. Winter can be difficult because colder temperatures or a cold may trigger an episode. It is important that people either get tested for their allergies or identify these through observation. Click here to learn more about triggers, or click here to read more tips on how to make your home warm, dry, and pollution-free.

Make the sensitive choice

It is often hard for people with asthma and allergies to know what products they should avoid and which might be beneficial or neutral for them. To assist consumers in making these choices we have recently partnered with the National Asthma Council of Australia in their Sensitive Choice programme.

This programme accredits products which have a proven basis for benefit for people with asthma and allergies. Products which apply for accreditation are assessed by a panel which is looking for a clear research basis to support the approval. Only one product per category will generally be accredited. Besides providing a guide for consumers this programme is intended to encourage manufacturers to think about the needs of people with asthma and allergies when developing products. Click here to find out more about the Sensitive Choice programme.