Originally Posted by Trenchfoot

This is what worries me.

We've been here since December, so all of Summer and now the start of Autumn. Obviously the temperature has been wonderful, shorts and t-shirts every day, doors and windows thrown wide open. And all the long term expats and Kiwis muttering under their breath 'you wait till winter mate'...

I fear we are going to freeze our collective arses off. The house we are renting is a typical Kiwi pad, made of paper mache and balsa wood with corrugated tin foil for a roof. So thin and lightweight are the walls in fact that when our next-door-neighbour farts we can hear Jockey-cloth ripping. And yes, houses are that packed-in on the North Shore!

Then there is the damp to look forward to as well...

Originally Posted by Bo-Jangles

Whilst I am sure this is true for you being a Kiwi, the average Brit should take your post with a huge pinch of salt and should expect to have to heat their homes in some way for at least six months of the year - May to October.

Anyone (even in the Winterless North) who hasn't needed to use any form of heating prior to the 1st May would be doing really well. That old line about having the heating on five times a year would have to be the single biggest myth of the so-called 'Winterless North' as far as I am concerned. It's about as much use to the average migrant, as the poster who has budget spending $28k per month.

For health and comfort, indoor temperatures should be between 18ºC and 24ºC. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that all living and sleeping areas be maintained at a temperature of at least 16ºC (and preferably 18 ºC).

OSH Recommends offices during winter are maintained at 18 - 22 ºC

My own comfort level puts 18.5ºC as a tad on the chilly side for anything other than the briefest period and I would be then thinking of adding some extra layers and some form of heating.

This week will see the weather cooling off somewhat with an overnight low of just 8ºC predicted for Friday, which is about as cold as it gets on all but the worst of the Winter nights from June to August in Auckland.

I note today the daytime temperatures in the UK are around 10c, so if you want to see how cold that is, go switch your heating off right now. Open all the doors and windows, get undressed, do some normal things you would expect to be able to do in the comfort of your home, go take a shower or have a bath, sit and watch the TV for while and see how you would feel about your home being as 'warm' as that for six months of the year.

Just keeping it REAL!!!