Petra, her husband and their daughter live in a 1970s brick veneer home in Dunedin. The house sits across two levels (a ground floor and a first floor that opens to the garden), and from the driveway it reads as a two-storey building. Solar panels on the roof, a diesel central heating system inside, and a small portable electric heater for shoulder seasons: a complicated setup for a complicated house.
The front rooms (lounge, dining and kitchen) are framed by big windows that catch the morning sun. The back rooms, the master bedroom, their daughter's room, Petra's home office, and the laundry, face the garden and the afternoon sun, which in a Dunedin winter is not warm enough to count for much. Those were the rooms that needed help

A careful, considered decision

The Insulmax®® team, led by Conan, did a thorough assessment with a thermal imaging camera so Petra and her husband could see exactly where the heat was leaking out, and where any existing insulation was (or wasn't) actually doing its job. "I loved how everything got explained," Petra says. "It got checked whether there was old insulation in it or not, making sure we weren't having pink batts in there that aren't actually working. It was a really nice assessment of the house. Conan was really knowledgeable and really fun. He made it a nice experience."

The team weighed up the whole picture and gave a clear-eyed recommendation: don't bother with the heavily glazed front rooms. The glass was the limiting factor there, and replacing the non-thermally-broken aluminium frames and single glazing would have cost a fortune. The walls behind the brick veneer at the back of the house, on the other hand, were a perfect candidate. "Our neighbours had it done, and knowing the business for a while, we thought, oh, that's the perfect solution," Petra says. "Taking the walls off our 1970s home, would have been a total nightmare. This was just the nicest and easiest way."

An unexpected bonus

What Petra didn't expect was how much love the exterior would get along the way. The house was water blasted in preparation. Some crumbling bits of grout between the brickwork were fixed as the team worked. And after the install, the whole brick veneer was sealed to keep moisture out. "Every time the garden sprinkler is on, everything just runs off the walls, like off a window. We not only have that extra cosy feel inside, we also have that protectedness from the elements for our brick veneer."

The "is the heater on?" moment

Almost three winters on, the back of the house feels like a different place. "Sometimes we walk in there and we're like, is the heater on? But actually no, it's the Insulmax®®. It's so nice and warm."
The change has shifted how they heat the house, too. Instead of running the diesel central heating all night, they warm the rooms to a comfortable temperature before bed and switch it off. "The Insulmax®® just keeps the warmth in the room. We don't need it on all night." And on hot days in summer, the same insulation works in reverse, holding the cool for longer.

The right fix for the right house

For Petra, the value wasn't in chasing a single power bill figure (with solar, diesel and electricity in the mix, that maths is hard to do anyway). The value was in choosing the right solution for the right rooms, getting it explained properly, and ending up with a home that's noticeably more comfortable in the parts of the house they actually live in.
"Absolutely good value," she says. And the brick veneer has never looked better.
Note: Our case studies are conducted through interviews with our customers to provide context and background to their experiences. We greatly appreciate their willingness to share their stories. On our website, you can find numerous testimonials in our clients' own words, accompanied by images of their homes, all available in the Reviews section.