By Kloe Palmer
Nearly half way through winter, no one's been feeling the chill like those hunkering down Christchurch's earthquake damaged homes.
Thousands of properties still wait in limbo between insurance payouts, repairs or even rebuilds.
For those home owners there's little point spending what could be thousands on upgrading their windows to double glazing, but many are opting for "do it yourself" methods.
Louise Baker's is one such an earthquake refugee. She's not quite living outdoors, but inside her temporary rental the conditions aren't much different, with bad condensation throughout her residence.
With only a five-week lease, she turned to the internet to find a cheap way to eliminate moisture - the answer it gave was bubble wrap.
“It seemed like a really tacky idea and I couldn't see how it could possibly work, but then just think about it, it did seem that this was going to be exactly like double glazing it's going to trap air in and keep it warm and I liked the fact that it only cost about a dollar a window so I decided to give it a try,” she says.
Baker believes the bubbles have stopped around 95 percent of the condensation, but the water's not the only thing gone as her view outside is now blurred.
“I can still see if somebody comes to the door or if cars are going by or something, but it actually feels nice and cosy it feels a bit warmer here on the grey days,” she says.
An industrial sized roll of bubble wrap costs around $30, but if you're willing to spend a bit more you can keep your view as well by installing thin film which is the method the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority recommends.
Installing thin film costs around $200 to kit out an average sized home, but unlike the bubble wrap you can hardly tell it's there.
Proper glass double-glazing can cost upwards of $10,000, so at a fraction of the price do these plastic options actually work?
Building science student Nick Smith wanted to find out - as part of his university masters he completed a cost benefit analysis on alternatives to full double glazing.
“What was interesting is that the cheaper thin plastic film methods were still just as effective as the more expensive alternatives, the reason for this is because the air gap between the two layers of glazing is essentially what gives you the thermal resistance, rather than the glazing itself,” he says.
Mr Smith says the film method lasts only a couple of seasons, so it's good for renters and of course ideal for those waiting on repairs to their earthquake damaged homes in Christchurch.
3 News