Thursday 8 January

Wow if I thought Wednesday was hot it was shocking yesterday. Christchurch reached 36C & there was not a puff of wind or a cloud in the sky. It was stinking hot!

I think the heat fried my modem because yesterday & most of today I have been without internet access due to a failed modem. That in itself had my temperature rising as well as the inevitable "it's hot, it's too hot" moans & groans coming from the boys. I tried to keep them inside in the relatice cool from 11am to 3pm but they resisted strongly. I understand it was hot inside but it was hotter outside.

All I can say is, thank goodness we weren't in the ceiling cavity. We have installed a new warming come drying device for the house called an HRV, heat recovery & ventilation, unit. It works by bringing air from the ceiling cavity down inside the ceiling to warm the house in winter & once the ceiling temperature is lower than the inside temperature it can cool the house if needed. How does it know what the temperature is? It has some thermometers placed in the ceiling cavity & in the house. We can see the temperatures on a little display unit.

Brent & I had always wondered if the ceiling would ever get to 50C. Yesterday we watched as it got to 50C & then climbed further. This is the highest reading we got yesterday. Pretty impressive really & 31C was definitely cooler than it was outside at the time.