Job Discussion Forums

[ella]

are apartments in Istanbul heated in the winter? although from the northeast of the US and supposedly acclimated to cold i feared my blood would freeze this winter in morocco. no insulation; no heat; great for the scorching summer; bad for the winter. even a gallon of tea couldn't warm me up.

[Mike_2003]

This is the country where the men wear vests when it's 35C!!! Of course they have heating and it often continues running until well into summer (because sometimes it can drop below 20C even in June and if you had just come out of the shower with wet hair...call a doctor!!!!)

There are different types of heating system:

1. Kombi - operated by natural gas, heats water and rads, you can use it as little or as much as you like and are billed only for your own usage. The best system for non-Turks (ie, those who can tolerate temperatures below boiling point)

2. Merkez: Common heating system operated by a big boiler in the basement of the building. Water pumped to the rads in each flat. Everyone shares the cost. Stupidly expensive and they keep it on far too late into the year and often all day and night. You can turn off the rads in your apartment, but you'll still pay your share of the total for the building.

3. Soba: A gas-stove type thing, normally located in the living room or hall. Fuelled by natural gas. You can control your usage but it's not especially efficient. Best for putting your coffee on to keep it hot.

Sometimes a really old building will have no heating so you'll end up using electric fires of portable gas heaters, but to be honest you are unlikely to end up in this situation unless you really want to slum it.

Regards,
Mike

[ella]

thank you mike. wow...heat. what a dream come true! i suppose the turkish are afraid of the cold as moroccans are...however here instead of turning on the heat one is encouraged to swaddle oneself so that being bowlegged may be the only option. perhaps i am exaggerating. there is also fear of drafts here; if two windows are open at the same time in the house it is a disaster...run for the hospital! how did i survive the winters in maine with my stylishly wet hair turning into icicles at the morning bus stop? one can only wonder. anyway thanks again.

[vre]

The two- window syndrome also exists here in Turkey. And god forbid if you go out with wet hair! You are just asking for death to come soon, so they say....

[dmb]

...and if you drink cold water you'll die

[justme]

The open windows thing is baffling. What I consider a refreshing breeze in an otherwise sweltering flat with no A/C apparently is fatal.

What confuses me, however, is why an indoors breeze is deadly while an outdoors breeze is okay. I was discussing the balcony issue with a Turk, and asked if he thought a covered or uncovered balcony was better (in reference to those Pimapen things they put on balconies). He said the covered balcony was definitely better. However, to open the windows on a covered balcony would create a lethal wind, whereas the wind on the open balcony, while healthy, exposes you to the gaze of possibly unsavoury neighbors...

So is the added expense of the covered balcony purely just to have a semi private place to dry clothes? Or perhaps to breakfast in the winter? Otherwise it's just a boiling solarium/greenhouse type room in the summer, useless except maybe to help heat the house after the central heating gets shut off mid-June.... Except it wouldn't even do that since you'd die if you opened the windows.

I give up, I'm so confused. I'm gonna go drink ice water now...

[Mike_2003]

I'm no biologist, but surely a hot enclosed room would provide the perfect environment for a virus, wouldn't it?

My ex would almost die of shock if she came home to find I had not only opened the balcony door, but had also pulled the curtains (both layers) wide open!!! Not only was I exposing us to the "killer wind" but also allowing anybody who happened to fly past out fifth-floor flat to see into our abode!

[corall]

hahaha

the things i get to look forward to! thank god i love hot weather and tea

[dmb]

Be warned Corall the winters in Istanbul can be miserable. Not only does it rain alot there is an artic like wind blowing down from the Black Sea. Enjoy summer and autumn while it lasts

[corall]

aww man... i hate winter, like hate it (and i'm canadian). like i am allergic to cold i swear and snow, especially snow...oh man, i'll freeze up and die...i can't stand cold... ah well at least the beer is always cold when it's winter...

thanks for the heads up

[yaramaz]

Relax, I'm Canadian AND I was living in a city with a far worse winter-reputation thn Istanbul and can safely inform you that it will not be as bad as you fear. Nippy, yes, and grey, with some snow and rain but NOT like Toronto or Montreal. In fact, closer to southern BC winters. Think Vancouver. With less rain.

[corall]

oh thank god. i lived in ottawa for three years so i am really not such a wimp, but 2 years where it didn't snow or rain very much through the winter, i kinda got used to it...

what i am wondering, i read that the whole wet hair idea was thought that it meant "washing your hair after sex" and that was bad... is there truth to that?

[Gomez]

I think they say you should wash it during sex.

Or wash during sex, dry after sex. Something like that.

Most women here won't go outside after taking a shower even if their hair is mostly dry. From what complete strangeness I've witnessed about air conditioning, cold water, ice cream, sitting for too long in one position (my friend told me a girl died on a transatlantic flight because she didn't move the whole trip. I asked her what about people who sleep still for 6 hours? She didn't answer that one. And another person's face was "frozen" in a permanent horrible disfigured position because the car a/c was blowing on it for an hour straight.) because I've gone through all that, I have to believe that this is another weirdness of hysteria based on knee jerk health and fitness tales. Maybe there's something to it, but you will find the bank sweltering hot on a tuesday afternoon and the security guard (who curiously answers phones and tells you the computer system is down and can't take your bill) is sitting under a turned off air conditioner. There's no logic to it. There just isn't. a/c spreads disease around the office, but everyone eating out of the same communal salad bowl in the middle of the table and tasting everyone else's drink because "I've never had that before, let me get a pull off that grape juice daddy-o", no that doesn't make them sick. It's the a/c and the cold water. Mmhmm. I'm running the a/c right now, thank you very much. And don't you know I feel a little weird about it?

[corall]

careful gomex...your playing with fire...a/c and fan death...open window syndromes and the like...

and anyone that wants to drink from my beer???? ....bring your own straw...

[gelin]

I lived in Istanbul for the past three years and I can tell you that every year we had at least a week off school due to snow, so it's not only gray and dreary, but there is apt to be snow and, at times, a lot of it. Just don't be surprised.