Heather Westaway's home used to be unbearable in winter.
She would wear puffer jackets around the house, close all her blinds and rely on a 35-year-old power bank heater to keep her warm.
She dreaded her power bills each quarter — becoming more expensive as the winter progressed.
But more importantly, the 81-year-old was embarrassed about her cold home.
"It was so cold, I felt embarrassed asking people to come over because I'd have to ask them to bring their coat and wear it inside my home," Ms Westaway said.
"And because of that, a lot of people didn't come and visit."
Her older house in Melbourne's west, built well before energy standards were introduced in Australia, reached about 10 degrees Celsius each winter.
However, Ms Westaway's humble Melton home is now much warmer thanks to a split-system heater installed as part of an energy efficiency Sustainability Victoria program.
Ms Westaway said living in her cold home and facing high bills was "getting too much" and the change came at just the right time.
Cold temperatures increasing health risks
Victoria's temperate climate and poorly insulated older homes can result in serious population health risks.
Melton, which sees average low temperatures of 5C during the winter months, put a huge strain on Ms Westaway's health.
She found she was constantly getting sick with colds and flus, and regularly having to visit the doctor.
Although she has three heat bank heaters positioned throughout her home, she said they were never warm enough.
"During the night it would just get so cold," she said.
"I'd have cold fingers and cold toes and I'd even wear a coat to bed with a beanie."
Living in a cold home and constantly being exposed to cold temperatures creates huge health risks for older Australians with underlying health conditions.
The risk of illness and death increases from coughs, lung and heart problems, falls, poor mental health and carbon monoxide poisoning from poorly maintained heating appliances.
Heather said now with her new split system heating, her health was much better.
"I'm not getting sick like I used to because I'm warm, whereas before it was just as warm outside in the winter as it was inside," she said.
Lower energy bills, warmer homes
Sustainability Victoria examined 1,000 low-income households across Melbourne's west and the Goulburn Valley as as part of a three-year trial to improve thermal comfort.
The program set out to improve indoor temperatures and reduce winter energy bills through energy efficient changes, measuring the health benefits of improved warmth before and after the upgrades.
Sustainability Victoria chief executive Matt Genever said the program, funded by the Victorian government, was a huge success in recognising how warmth affects health.
"We used Healthy Homes to set out to prove the link between people living in cold houses in winter and poor health outcomes," Mr Genever said.
"By doing small, smart efficiency upgrades, we could make those people healthier throughout the year."
Some of the upgrades included draught proofing, ceiling or sub-floor insulation, high-efficiency heating and cooling appliances and window coverings.
The program found on average participants saved $972 over winter, and for every $1 saved in energy, more than $10 was saved on healthcare costs, such as GP visits and medications.
Additionally, participants were 43 minutes per day less exposed to the cold and their homes on average were a third of a degree warmer.
Along with healthcare benefits, energy bills went down for people like Ms Westaway.
Since she had her split system installed, her bills have gone down to $250 per quarter, compared to at its worst, a $650 quarterly bill.
Mr Genever said approximately 1.3 million homes across Victoria were "thermally insufficient" and rated about two stars out of the current seven-star standard, however the program was yet to be renewed renewed by the state government yet.
"Around 200,000 of that 1.3 million will also be low income households that have somebody in their house that has a complex healthcare or social care need," he said.
"These homes would really benefit from an upgrade like this."
Older homes 'harming occupants'
Suffering in cold homes during winter is a common trend, with many Australian homes designed to keep us cool in summer rather than warm in the colder months.
Professor Richard Tucker, co-director of the HOME Research Centre at Deakin University, said improving thermal performance in housing sees multiple health benefits, especially for older Australians.
"Cold homes waste energy and harm the occupants, and there's been a lot of research evidencing this reality especially in colder climates," Professor Tucker said.
"It's a significant problem because much of our housing stock is old, poorly insulated and draughty."
Professor Tucker said associations between cold homes and health issues needed to be addressed in a range of policies relating to "healthy ageing".
"Warmer homes reduce health inequity, which maps closely with social and economic disadvantage," he said.
"Low-income households are more likely to be renting and there are no requirements for private landlords to insulate or cost-effectively heat their rental properties, which tend to be older stock."
The researcher indicated "cold weather payments" or incentives to assist landlords to insulate properties, as well as setting higher minimum building standards to increase levels of insulation were all potential solutions.
No shortage of visitors
Many of the energy efficiency upgrades to homes are expensive for Victorian households without support.
Sustainability Victoria said the upgrades out of pocket could cost a household anywhere between $3,000 to $4,000 to implement.
However, the organisation indicated they had received positive feedback about the program and were in conversations with the Victorian government to continue its rollout.
As for the upgrades to Heather's home, she has no shortage of visitors now.
"People ring me up at lunch time, and they'll say, "Can we come over for afternoon tea?"," Heather said.
"And I'll say, "Of course", and I'll put the split system on and I can have it at whatever temperature they want – how good is that?"
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