Bending the Swedish “heat season” rules

It’s cold inside my apartment. I am wearing a sweater, a big knit scarf around my neck and I have a blanket over my lap. It’s ridiculous that I have to work this way. It’s May. It should not be chilly according to my calendar. But as it’s spring and I live in Northern Europe in the vicinity of the Arctic Circle, I understand that the temperatures can still be a bit chilly this time of year. It’s only logical. So why does it make any sense that I can not turn on my heat?

According to the guy who has been installing geo-thermal power in my building, the “heat season” ends April 17th. When he told me this, I laughed because I thought it was a joke. It’s not. Thus what this means to me is that the heat is turned off in apartment buildings from that magic date, no matter what the temperature is outside. During that week that the heat was first turned off, it snowed. It was 16 degrees C in my apartment. I was not happy.

I resent that there’s a rule that governs when I can have the heat on and I also don’t like the rule that outdoor serving at restaurants most stop in September. It’s frequently quite nice at that time of year, but all the tabes and chairs have been put away. I suppose that’s known as “the cold season?” The rules bug me, but mostly right now because my nose and fingers are freezing. I will have to go outside to warm up.

Tagged as: An American expat, Living internationally, outdoor serving in Stockholm, Swedish culture, that's not how its done here, the heat season in Stockholm, writing about Sweden