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I live in an apartment in an older building (1888) with single pane windows that need to properly insulated.  Seeing as my landlord doesn't care what  I put up so long as I take it down, I'm going to buy some insulation tape to feel the gaps.  The heating itself is electric, and starting this following year, there's going to be an option to buy "green power" from a local wind farm.

As far as heating use, despite the windows, it's got trememdous thermal mass (About 20 cms of brick and plaster), and I've only had to turn on the heat once for 5 minutes to make sure it worked.  (It's a really old building.  

I don't mind the heat or the cold.  I'll probably leave it at 58-59F (14C) in the winter, and I only use my airconditioning when it gets above 90F (32C) in the apartment.  I worked outside for several years in at a garden shop, and I'm used to severe weather.

Which Indiana will throw at you in large amounts.  The coldest I've personally seen is -29F(-34C), while at the other end I seen it get up to 108 F (42 C) when I was working.  So long as it in that sweet spot between 50F (10 C)and 90 F (32C) in my room I can handle it.

I think that in part, the American reputation for overheating is city folk who aren't accustomed to the idea that there's a natural ebb and flow to nature.  (A time when things turn green, it gets warm. A time when things die, and it gets cold.  To everything turn, turn, turn.  There is a season. Etc.)

Then again I may be an extreme polar bear example.

And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg

by ManfromMiddletown (manfrommiddletown at lycos dot com) on Wed Oct 17th, 2007 at 09:30:58 AM EST
I think that in part, the American reputation for overheating is city folk who aren't accustomed to the idea that there's a natural ebb and flow to nature.  (A time when things turn green, it gets warm. A time when things die, and it gets cold.  To everything turn, turn, turn.  There is a season. Etc.)

This is a big factor, I think.  The younger generations (of which I am still a member, despite my age) have been brought up to pretend that seasons don't exist.  Hot outside?  AC.  Cold?  Heat.  No vegetables in winter?  Fly them in from Chile.  Everything is supposed to be just as comfortable at all times, and no adjustments should be made to the weather at all.

For whatever reason, the majority of new English teachers in my small Japanese city have been from California.  Year after year, a group of young women arrive who believe that it is a birthright to wear flip-flops all year long, and have no proper winter clothing, and no understanding of home heating.  But instead of adjusting to the situation after the first cold snap, they go into winter denial.  They keep doing things the way they always did, keep wearing their same, grossly inadequate clothes, and whatever, because they cannot bring themselves to believe that winter is really cold, and that you have to adapt your behavior to the world around you on occasion.  "Sure, I'm freezing to death, but it will only be for another few months."

The second year, they usually come around.  Or they go home.

It will be a horrible, horrible shock for such people should a real energy crisis demand that the seasons be recognized.

by Zwackus on Wed Oct 17th, 2007 at 11:14:24 PM EST
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What I don't understand is the Londoners with flip-flops and bare legs in winter. They should know better. Unless they all happen to be Australian or South African, which is a possiblity. There are fewer and fewer English in London.

We have met the enemy, and it is us — Pogo
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Oct 23rd, 2007 at 03:24:40 AM EST
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