Chill Out
Posted on Tuesday 16th February 2010
And now we can … literally.
When we lived in Leicester, it occasionally became hot. A really warm day might have just squeaked the mid thirties. On such days, and the inevitable muggy succeeding night, we sweated it out uncomfortably. But, typically of the Midlands, the heatwave never lasted that long and broken sleep was short-lived.
After coming to Adelaide, we now view anything in the high thirties as a fairly normal summer day. Heat-waves here are similarly more intense with a recent spell of 3 days above 41 last November, and a sweltering fortnight last year above 35. With the nights no better I, for one, find it very difficult to sleep if the bedroom is hotter than the mid-twenties.
Fortunately our house had air-conditioning pre-installed in the master bedroom so, unfortunately, concerns about carbon emissions and energy conservation have to be ignored in the pursuit of sanity.
Now we have also arranged for our landlord to put a system in the living-room. Most of the time I can cope during the day by wearing loose clothing and drinking plenty of fluids, but not always. It doesn’t help that our living-room faces west and takes the full brunt of the afternoon sun. On cloudless days, the inside temperature will readily exceed that outside. But now we can fight the heat, and achieve some semblance of control. With two good reasons:
Firstly, I wanted to be able to cool the downstairs on hot days to prevent The Scaredey getting heatstroke again. And secondly my family will be shortly coming over from the next Ice-Age and undoubtedly appreciate not being boiled alive the moment they step off the plane.
Business as usual in Leicester mate, I would relish the opportunity to spend a couple of days in ….well high 20s heat, maybe not high 30s (yikes).
*chuckle* very cold in Scotland right now!
Having spent the past couple of weeks in the Philippines with the associated sweltering heat, I certainly sympathise with you. At the family house we only have a/c in the bedroom. Although fans help to some extent, it is still unpleasant and I would find myself escaping to the cool comfort. Even back in Leicestet I have a couple of a/c units – even though we don’t have that many hot days, it is great to be able to get a good night’s rest. I try to do my bit for the environment by not having the stat set excessively cold or running a/c unnecessarily.
No worries, I’m very happy to be boiled, after the horrible freeze we’ve had here.
Xx