What Is a Climate Safe Room?
When fixing the whole house is too much,
make one room excellent
Australian homes are often terrible at keeping the weather outside. In winter, warm air wanders out through gaps, windows, floors and ceilings. In summer, heat barges in through the glass and roof. Meanwhile, the heater or air conditioner runs itself ragged trying to make up the difference. Ideally, you would fix the whole house.
But budgets are real. Time is limited. And sometimes the thought of tackling the whole house is enough to make you quietly close the laptop and put the kettle on. So start with one room.
What is a climate safe room?
A climate safe room is one room in your home that has been improved so it is easier to keep comfortable during very hot or very cold weather.
You reduce the ways heat gets in and out. You stop the draughts. You improve the insulation and windows. Then you heat or cool that smaller, better-protected space.
At ecoMaster, we call this cocooning.
A climate safe room is not a bunker, panic room or purpose-built emergency shelter. It is an ordinary room that has been made to work much better than it did before.
It gives you somewhere to retreat when the rest of the house is doing a fairly accurate impression of the weather outside.
Why concentrate on one room?
Because one excellent room can make an immediate difference.
Trying to heat or cool a whole draughty house can cost a fortune. Much of that expensive warm or cool air may be escaping into unused rooms—or straight outdoors.
A smaller, properly zoned room needs less energy to bring to a comfortable temperature. More importantly, it can hold onto that comfort for longer.
This can be particularly helpful for:
- older people
- babies and young children
- people who spend a lot of time at home
- people more affected by extreme temperatures
- renters who cannot retrofit the entire property
- households working with a limited budget
- anyone who wants to start somewhere sensible
But you do not need to qualify as “vulnerable” to have one. If your house is freezing in winter or revoltingly hot in summer, a climate safe room can make life considerably better.
Which room should you choose?
Choose a room you actually use. For most households, the lounge room is the obvious choice. It may be a bedroom, home office or living and dining area instead.
Look for a room that:
- can be closed off from the rest of the house
- is not unnecessarily enormous
- has relatively few external doors and windows
- can be shaded from direct summer sun
- can be heated and cooled efficiently
- is accessible to everyone who needs it
- has enough space to spend several hours comfortably
Do not choose a tiny spare bedroom simply because it will be easy to heat or cool. It is not much use if the whole household has to sit shoulder-to-shoulder on the bed while balancing dinner on their knees. Pick a room that works for your real household.
Our Comfort Series: Room-by-Room Rescue will help you inspect the rooms in your home and work out what needs attention.
How does a climate safe room work?
It does three basic things:
- Reduces unwanted heat moving into or out of the room.
- Keeps the heating or cooling you have paid for where you need it.
- Gives you control over the temperature and ventilation.
There is no single product that creates a climate safe room. It is the combination of several improvements that makes it work.
Start with shading
For summer comfort, stop the sun before it reaches the glass. Once strong sunlight has come through the window, the heat is already inside. Closing the curtains at that point is better than nothing, but external shading does the heavy lifting.
Depending on the window, you might use:
- external blinds or awnings
- shade sails
- deciduous plants
- removable seasonal shading
- reflective external window treatments
Pay particular attention to east- and west-facing glass. Low morning and afternoon sun can be brutal and is difficult to stop with roof eaves alone. If summer is your main problem, head to My House Is Too Hot.
Stop the draughts
Draughts constantly swap your comfortable indoor air for whatever is happening outside.
Check:
- under, over and around doors
- around opening windows
- unused chimneys
- exhaust fans
- old wall and floor vents
- gaps around skirting boards and architraves
- unused heating ducts and vents
- cavity sliding doors
Do not just shove a snake against the bottom of the door and declare the job finished. Air also leaks around the sides and top. The aim is to stop uncontrolled air movement. You still need to ventilate the room - you just get to decide when. Start with What Is Draught Proofing? or work through the Draught Proofing Information Hub.
A warning about gas heaters
Never seal a chimney, vent or other opening that is required for a gas appliance. If the room has an open-flued or unflued gas heater, get qualified advice before sealing it. These appliances need ventilation for safe operation. Ideally, have old gas heating safely decommissioned and replace it with efficient electric heating and cooling.
Keep the comfort in the room
A climate safe room needs to be separated from the rest of the house. Close the door to the hallway and seal around it properly. If there is no door, a well-fitted curtain or another divider may help. There is no point carefully heating the lounge while all that lovely warm air escapes down the hall to warm three empty bedrooms and the linen cupboard. This is called zoning. Keep the comfort where the people are.
Improve the insulation
Insulation slows down the movement of heat. Start by checking the ceiling or roof above the room. In summer, a hot roof space sits directly above you. In winter, heat from the room escapes upwards.
Depending on the house, you may also need to consider:
- underfloor insulation beneath suspended timber floors
- wall insulation
- missing, damaged or badly installed insulation
- gaps in ceiling insulation around old downlights
- sections disturbed by previous building or electrical work
You may eventually insulate the whole house. But if money is tight, concentrating on the area around your chosen room can still make a worthwhile difference.
Do something about the windows
Old single-glazed windows are usually the weakest part of the room. Check whether they close properly and whether air is leaking around the opening sections.
Then look at:
- window draught proofing
- well-fitted curtains
- pelmets
- cellular blinds
- reflective window treatments
- secondary glazing
Curtains need to cover the window properly. A thin curtain dangling decoratively in the general vicinity of the glass is not a thermal solution. For a more permanent improvement without removing your existing windows, read What Is Secondary Glazing?.
Then add efficient heating and cooling
Once the room can hold a comfortable temperature, heating and cooling have a fighting chance. A correctly sized reverse-cycle air conditioner can provide efficient heating in winter and cooling in summer. Ceiling and pedestal fans can help move air around the room and make the temperature feel more even.
Do the building improvements first wherever possible. Installing a big new air conditioner in a room with hot unshaded windows, missing insulation and gaps everywhere is an expensive way to avoid fixing the actual problem.
Do not forget the air
Draught proofing does not mean sealing people into a room indefinitely. Ventilate when outdoor conditions are suitable. Use exhaust fans when cooking or creating moisture. Watch for condensation and stuffiness.
During bushfire smoke events, outdoor air may not be suitable for ventilation. Reducing air leakage and using a correctly sized air purifier with a genuine HEPA filter can help reduce smoke particles indoors. Our Bushfire and Indoor Air Quality guide explains where smoke gets in and what you can do about it. A climate safe room is not a designated bushfire shelter. Always follow current emergency warnings and official health and fire advice.
Build it in stages
You do not have to do everything at once.
Start now
- Pick the room.
- Close it off from the rest of the house.
- Close curtains before summer sun hits the glass.
- Ventilate when the outdoor temperature is favourable.
- Move in the things you need so you will actually use the room.
Tackle the DIY jobs
- Draught proof the doors and windows.
- Deal with suitable gaps and cracks.
- Improve the curtains and pelmets.
- Add removable summer shading.
- Use a ceiling or pedestal fan.
- Safely close unused chimneys and vents.
Plan the bigger improvements
- ceiling or roof insulation
- underfloor insulation
- wall insulation
- secondary glazing
- fixed external shading
- reverse-cycle heating and cooling
- replacing old gas heating
Each improvement helps. The room does not need to be perfect before it starts being useful.
Is it only for extreme weather?
No. Most of the time, your climate safe room is simply the most comfortable room in the house. It might be the lounge you can heat without warming the entire neighbourhood. The bedroom that stays cooler at night. Or the home office where you can work without running heating or cooling through every room. When extreme weather arrives, you already know where to go and how to keep that smaller area manageable.
Climate safe rooms, cocooning and the Comfort Series
They are three parts of the same idea:
- The climate safe room is what you are creating.
- Cocooning is how you concentrate your work and budget on that room.
- The Comfort Series helps you inspect and improve each room.
A climate safe room may be the first stage of a whole-home retrofit. Or it may simply be the most useful thing you can do right now. Either way, one good room is a very good place to start.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a climate safe room a panic room?
No. It is an ordinary room improved to provide better protection from heat and cold. It is not a security room or emergency shelter.
Does it have to be airtight?
No. You want to stop uncontrolled draughts while keeping control of ventilation. Never block vents needed for gas appliances or other safety purposes.
Can renters make one?
Yes. Start with zoning, suitable curtains, removable shading and non-permanent draught-proofing measures. Get permission before making permanent changes.
Will I still need heating or air conditioning?
Usually. The improvements reduce how hard the appliance needs to work and how quickly the heating or cooling escapes.
Can it protect me during a bushfire?
It may help reduce smoke entering during regional smoke events, but it is not a bushfire shelter and does not replace an emergency or evacuation plan.
What is the best room?
Usually the room you spend the most time in. It should be possible to close it off, shade it, draught proof it and heat or cool it efficiently.