Winter has set in well and truly this month, making its presence felt with rain, snow and chilly winds.
Do you find that no matter how well you heat your house, an icy blast blows in every time someone opens a door? Just as we rug ourselves up in warm protective clothing to beat the cold when venturing outside, we can wrap our homes with windcheaters to ward off those chill winds.
Possibly the most effective way to deflect winter winds is to plant a barrier along the side of the house where they are most prevalent. A hedge or a row of evergreens such as yew or box – or if you prefer natives, wattle, banksias or callistemon (bottlebrush). An added bonus of the living windbreak is that it will also provide protection for the garden and warm spots for you to sit on a sunny winter day.
As a short-term solution, erect a trellis or bamboo screen in the garden so that it breaks the flow of wind into your house.
If your builder’s hands are stronger than your green thumbs, you might consider putting up walls around the patio, creating a wind break for the front or back door. Using fibreglass or strong structural glass can insulate the area while still letting the light in.
Even running a simple wooden screen a few metres from the house will form a windbreak in areas that are most exposed and affected by the wind.
Basically, any type of windbreak will work to lower the wind chill near your home, which occurs when wind speed lowers the outside temperature. For example, if the outside temperature is -12°C and the wind speed is 32 kilometres per hour, the wind chill is -31°C. A windbreak will reduce wind speed for a distance of as much as 30 times the windbreak’s height.
For maximum protection, plant your windbreak at a distance from your home of two to five times the mature height of the trees, so if there’s ever any high winds strong enough to uproot them, you have a buffer zone.
The best windbreaks block wind close to the ground by using trees and shrubs that have low crowns. If snow tends to drift in your area, plant low shrubs on the windward side of your windbreak. The shrubs will trap snow before it blows next to your home.
In addition to more distant windbreaks, planting shrubs, bushes, and vines next to your house creates dead air spaces that insulate the building in both winter and summer. When planting, leave at least 30 centimetres of space between full-grown plants and the nearest wall.
Inside the house, the same principles of deflect and disturb can be applied. If external doors open directly into an open room such as the living room, try placing a barrier such as a bookcase or screen just inside the entrance. Likewise, pot plants will absorb the flow and ‘mute’ it before it reaches into the room.
