Why is my brand-new house
so cold?
You paid for insulation. The house is months old. It still feels colder inside than out. Here is what is actually going on.
Identities and brand names removed. This is the problem we are asked about more than any other.
Anyone else's house FREEZING.
We have the
Main bedroom above garage is freezing.
The whole house has been freezing lately.
We paid for insulation throughout and between floors.
What should I be checking because this house isn't normal
Its almost warmer outside.
I went into a frends house near my house and hes was cozy without heating on.
Something isnt right.
Im now wondering if we are victim to the gyprockers removing insulation.
You can have insulation and still have a cold house.
Insulation slows heat moving through the walls and ceiling. It does nothing about the air leaking through the gaps around windows, doors, downlights, and the subfloor. That is warm air pouring out and cold air pouring in, all day, whatever sits in the walls. New to the standard? Start with what a passive house is.
Air changes an hour. Heat leaks out constantly, no matter how much insulation is installed.
Air changes an hour, blower-door tested. Sealed, so it holds its warmth.
Why the room above the garage is always the coldest.
That room has cold air on three sides and an uninsulated garage beneath it. In most volume-built homes the floor over the garage is never properly sealed or insulated. The room sits in a pocket of cold air with almost nothing between it and the outside. It is the single most common cold-room complaint we hear.
What actually fixes it.
Comfort does not come from a bigger heater. It comes from a sealed, continuous building envelope:
- Airtightness tested to 0.6 air changes an hour
- Continuous insulation with no thermal gaps
- Heat recovery ventilation (HRV) that brings in fresh air without throwing away the warmth
That combination holds a home at 20 to 25°C year round and cuts energy use by around 80%. It is the difference between heating a bucket with a hole in it and heating one without.
A cold new home is not bad luck. It is a building that was never designed to hold temperature. If that is the home you are about to build, or the one you are trying not to repeat, here is how we build.
Airtightness and ventilation standards are published by the Australian Passivhaus Association.
More passive house questions →See how we build