Winter in New Zealand…

…is cold. Actually, the daytime temperatures hover around 25-35 degrees, which we see in the Southern US. However, those temperatures rarely stick around for more than 1-2 days before warming back up to the 50s. Rachel and I quickly learned how to layer much better than before. We’ve never needed heavy winter coats before, so we’ll usually put on 3-5 thin jackets to stay warm.

It’s funny when you realize how wonderful something is once you don’t have it. I’ve heard some public service announcements stating that over 60% of homes in New Zealand have substandard insulation and it likely plays a large part in children developing respiratory problems such as asthma. The government and banks have teamed up to help fix some of those 900,000 homes with poor insulation, as it helps keep people healthy and retain valuable heat throughout the winter.

A log fire is the most common way to heat a house in NZ. Jon and Amy were building up their fire wood reserves about the time we moved in. It was all very exciting because we both have fond memories from our childhood of sitting in front of a big fire on Christmas morning or after playing outside in one of the extremely rare snow storms. The fires were always for ambiance and never really played a role in heating the home – that was left for the central heating/air system.

Jon informed me that a typical winter’s supply of wood generally costs about $1000-1500. Jon is a builder, so he has an endless supply of kindling and he was lucky this year because a massive tree fell on a friend’s property so a large portion of the wood was free. Jon also installed a new fireplace while we were there. It was centrally located in the living room and the chimney was exposed, so it let off much more heat than a smokestack covered with stones or bricks. They also had a fan system which pulled air from the living room into the bed rooms at the back of the house.

Heat pumps (think a large wall-mounted space heater) are gaining popularity, but the up front investment is pretty sizable and the sharp increase in the electric bill doesn’t make it too tempting of an option either.

One of my favorite parts about all the log fires is the scents in the evenings. As you walk around town, you get all sorts of different smells coming from the various types of wood burning. Also, if you look out across town around dusk you can see a thin layer of smoke rising as everyone is starting to light their fires.

This is coming from someone who has never lived further north than Atlanta, so all of the previously mentioned things may be ordinary above the Mason-Dixon Line. Overall, we’ve had a couple of cold days and nights, but are managing much better than we thought.