Heat Watch 2013
After four winters in Beijing, you'd think we'd be used to the way fall turns cold around here. We seem to have pleasant shirt-sleeve, fall weather (when we do have clean air days) through half of October, and then--BAM!--just a few days after Myles' birthday the temperature drops and we start to think about the upcoming heating season. Already this week we have had two days in which long underwear was needed. It is time, I think, to kick off Heat Watch 2013.
more after the jump
This year, though, for us there is a new twist on what heating season means, and thereby Heat Watch. Our move to this new apartment (a complex we have lived in before) means that we no longer are on the municipal heat grid. Our apartment is equipped with electric in-floor heating, and a thermostat we ourselves can control. While having this level of flexibility and self-determination is something we could cheer, it is tempered by the understanding that electric heat is going to be much more expensive than the 2919 RMB we have spent per winter the last three years. We don't know how much yet, but in November 2009, the final month we lived in this same complex before, our electric bill exceeded our rent that month. It was even more than what we would end up paying in the next apartment for an entire winter of city heat. We weren't even running it that warm, either!
When we looked at this apartment in August, my only reservation was about the heating situation. We had American friends that lived in this same building until mid-summer, and they almost never ran their in-floor heating because of the cost. During the day they relied on their good southern exposure to heat up the main living area and two of their bedrooms, and space heaters in one north-facing bedroom at night when the temperatures really dropped. Our living room and my bedroom face the south, and on the sunny days we've enjoyed quite a bit of free warmth. Both kids' rooms, the kitchen, and (unfortunately) our laundry porch face north. So far, neither Myles or Brigid have complained about being cold, but they are going to bed in layers with blankets.
Just this week Harbin was all over the news. Having turned on their central heating on Sunday, the city was enveloped in such a toxic soup that the airport and schools were shut down. Beijing city officials were already working on this city's emergency plans for when the pollution here hits those same levels for three days in a row. And for next year, four of the largest coal-fired electricity generation plants in Beijing are slated to be replaced with natural gas. This is particularly interesting to us because, in addition to our concern about the cost, we know that electric heat adds to the emission mix around us.
This winter, I'll still have my eye on when the central heating kicks on, even though it matters less to us than before. We control our own Heat Watch this year. More than the previous few winters, Heat Watch is totally on us.
more after the jump
This year, though, for us there is a new twist on what heating season means, and thereby Heat Watch. Our move to this new apartment (a complex we have lived in before) means that we no longer are on the municipal heat grid. Our apartment is equipped with electric in-floor heating, and a thermostat we ourselves can control. While having this level of flexibility and self-determination is something we could cheer, it is tempered by the understanding that electric heat is going to be much more expensive than the 2919 RMB we have spent per winter the last three years. We don't know how much yet, but in November 2009, the final month we lived in this same complex before, our electric bill exceeded our rent that month. It was even more than what we would end up paying in the next apartment for an entire winter of city heat. We weren't even running it that warm, either!
When we looked at this apartment in August, my only reservation was about the heating situation. We had American friends that lived in this same building until mid-summer, and they almost never ran their in-floor heating because of the cost. During the day they relied on their good southern exposure to heat up the main living area and two of their bedrooms, and space heaters in one north-facing bedroom at night when the temperatures really dropped. Our living room and my bedroom face the south, and on the sunny days we've enjoyed quite a bit of free warmth. Both kids' rooms, the kitchen, and (unfortunately) our laundry porch face north. So far, neither Myles or Brigid have complained about being cold, but they are going to bed in layers with blankets.
Just this week Harbin was all over the news. Having turned on their central heating on Sunday, the city was enveloped in such a toxic soup that the airport and schools were shut down. Beijing city officials were already working on this city's emergency plans for when the pollution here hits those same levels for three days in a row. And for next year, four of the largest coal-fired electricity generation plants in Beijing are slated to be replaced with natural gas. This is particularly interesting to us because, in addition to our concern about the cost, we know that electric heat adds to the emission mix around us.
This winter, I'll still have my eye on when the central heating kicks on, even though it matters less to us than before. We control our own Heat Watch this year. More than the previous few winters, Heat Watch is totally on us.
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