Thanks for this suggestion. I need to be as snug as possible in the cold winter months here in Beechworth, ( the rest of the year is glorious), and I'm looking for the most effective insulation for the windows. I believed cellular blockouts would achieve this, but then thought Double glazing + blockout might be "over the top". I can't see draped curtains being so effective; perhaps I might settle for the blinds, and add some curtains for decorative effect. I can pay $3000.00 if they will achieve the insulation I need.

You have a classic post-war cream brick home, and the cream brick is the feature with its subtle variation in colour. The dark brown accent colours, which are not original, were probably added in the early 1970's. With your tight budget I would not be rendering the brick. You may like to read my blog post about why you should NOT render a classic home. https://secretdesignstudio.com/render-brick-home-tribute-triple-fronted-blonde-brick-veneer-home/ I would be looking at removing the "feature" awning and replacing it with something more appropriate to the home such as vertical black and white stripe which I suggested to these clients who have a similar brick and tile combination to yours. I would then look at repainting the gutters and fascias to co-ordinate with the awning. Introduce some landscaping to soften the look, and consider painting or rendering the dark brown base brickwork (but never the cream brickwork). Finish all of the timber window frames in the original Dulux Vivid White. I would not be adding the fake Victorian-style verandah to the home as you have proposed with its ornate iron lace. It will just look so wrong mixing these elements from different centuries from homes with very different proportions. I don't think I have actually seen a new renovation with fake decorative iron lace since the 1970s! At the end of the day, you won't be able to "modernise" or change the style of the existing home with your budget. What you can do is to celebrate the 1960's character that you already have and build on the original parts of your home which will be more cost-effective. Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls.

Double glazing windows and doors have long been popular in many colder climates, especially overseas. However, they are also a valuable asset in warmer climates too. Why? There are several benefits of having double glazing over single glazed windows and doors in your home. Heat Loss & Gain - acting as extra insulation by limiting the flow of hot or cold air in and out of your home. Energy Efficiency - reducing the need for air conditioning and heaters. Noise Reduction - reduces the amount of external noise entering your home. What's the number one reason you would choose to have Double Glazing in your home? Tell us how it keeps your home cool.

I'm with your hubby I'm afraid. Double glazing is mostly a way to deal with cold radiating into a house, and heat leaking out of the house via conduction which is not the problem in Perth. Sure it will prevent heat from radiating into the house via the windows but mostly that's not how houses heat up in Australia. What causes a house to heat up is sunlight warming up the ambient air inside the house via a greenhouse effect which double glazing will not prevent, or hot air being born into the house on the wind. So double glazing will only prevent this if you intend to shut the house up all day. In which cause it's just the lack of air movement not the insulative properties of double glazing doing that. Single glazing would also do that. In Australia what matters most is cross ventilation in order to create a restful environment. Evaporative cooling works effectively when you have good cross ventilation as it's the evaporation of the water vapour causing the cooling effect. Additionally you do not want to shut up a house with evaporative cooling as you'll get condensation and mould inside the house. So if you are 100% on double glazing it will only be effective with refrigerated air conditioning as it's relying on preventing air exchange between the inside and outside of the house to work and preventing conduction of ambient air temps. Double glazing is not popular here for a reason, it's the wrong solution for our climate. Cross ventilation and proper solar management is the correct solution for our climate. So I'm with your hubby I think it's wasted money that would be better spent on controlling the direct sunlight to the home and proper ventilation.