Editorial: A heated debate over heat at home

Hawke's Bay Today News Editor James Ford. Photo / File

There have been a few, shall we say, heated debates in our house of late.
And the theme of the discussion is always the same… the heat.

Granted, as an Englishman I may be a little more inclined to appreciate the cold.

The extra layer around my midriff also serves as a fine, built-in heating device.

In stark contrast, my fiancée battens down the hatches when the chilly weather arrives.

When I get home from work late in the evening the fire is at full tilt, roaring as it begs for another chunk of blue gum, while the heat pump dutifully mans the hallway.

She'll also be wearing winter pyjamas while wrapped in a blanket and in close proximity to a hot water bottle.

I quickly make my way to the bedroom to change into shorts and a T-shirt.

Anything to escape the punishing heat as I long for the feeling of cold outside.

Sure, I'm exaggerating a little, but there was a brief spell on Sunday evening in which I had the window next to me open while the fire pumped out heat at the other end of the room.

I don't understand why when we have a cold day the reaction is to push room temperature up to an intolerable level.

As my old man says, it's not the cold that makes you ill, it's the unnatural heat.

The sudden change in the atmosphere dries out the air and the body responds accordingly.

Vasomotor rhinitis is the medical term for it, the process by which certain chemicals are released to cope with the new temperature. Another term for it 'saving on the electric bill-itis'.

Alas, the temperature war will go on, but it can be too hot for our own good.