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Comment by leonheld | Hacker News Reader

Hey, I have a question for you (I'm assuming you know Europe/US): are the houses in Uruguay built to the same insulation standards as houses in northern/central Europe, for example?

I live in southern Brazil and I have yet to realize why we don't give a shit about proper insulation/modern heating techniques. Burning wood for heat in badly insulated homes drives me in-sa-ne during the winter months, terrible for my asthma.

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I'm Uruguayan and have lived in Europe (Austria) for many years, no, the isolation standards are not even close but you don’t quite need them as much.

Wood burning is becoming a rare thing here tho.

The coldest winters of my life were growing up in Uruguay, where it rarely gets to 0 degrees in winter. And I say this having lived in London and currently living in Switzerland. That says a lot about the quality of insulation in Uruguay :(

Insulation is expensive and it's hard to be the first homeowner to install it - because when you sell your house, the next buyer has to pay a premium for your insulated house, which means they have to be convinced of the merits of insulation and be able to pay for it.

Countries that have both the money and the investment-friendly culture to insulate their houses tend to be the rich ones.

Isn't it worthwhile enough to the current owner, in the form of a lower utility bill during the winter?

It depends on the pay-off period. This is determined by heating costs, the insulation costs, and the interest rate. It could take many years to pay for some kinds of insulation.

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