Adapting to the climate in Germany

The climate is moderate in Germany. We are not above the article circle as one would suppose from MGBalive's post! There are less hours of daylight during winter but it is NOT dark all day. Sometimes it is below zero for some weeks or even months in winter but not usually. In Stuttgart we hardly see snow on the ground for at least 1 out of 3 winters. 2016 has been unusually rainy but there is a definite spring, summer and fall and some summer days can be very hot. A few decades ago, one usually needed a jacket or sweater late at night even on most summer nights. Those days are clearly gone.

The change in weather has greatly improved things in Germany, however the long term consequences might be elsewhere. A difficulty can be the really warm summer days if they last for continuous days because this didn't happen earlier and most buildings have no central air-conditioning. I bought a free standing air-conditioner for my apartment but rarely use it as it sucks energy. The most important thing on sunny hot days is to block the sun coming in your windows.

Many places have blinds or shutters. I have neither but sometimes put a silver sun protection intended for a car windshield outside the window and draw the curtains. I live in an old apartment house and maintaining the interior climate is important. If it gets really hot then one needs to open the windows in one's apartment and in the stairwell during the night and keep them closed during the day. This works like a cooler.

What one should NOT do is to have the doors and windows open during the day like a crazy guy always does in my apartment house. He claims it will let in the “fresh air”. But the stairwell might be 16 degrees centigrade in the morning and the air outside getting to over 30 degrees during the afternoon. Leaving the doors and/or windows open will mean the cool air escapes and it will become as hot inside as out. It shouldn't take a degree in physics to understand this but many people don't seem to get it. If it does get hot inside and one has no air-conditioner then get a couple of big fans or go to a pool or into the woods rather than hanging around in a hot apartment.