Absolutely floored by this heating

When it snowed last week, my excited son ran out to join his friends in a snow fight in his kindergarten - but forgot to put on his cap.

His cough drove me into a panic as my 4-year-old always takes weeks to shake off a cold, and we hate to use the antibiotics the doctors prescribe for him.

But after a hot-water gargle and a good night's sleep, he had made a magical recovery. It suddenly dawned on me that neither my husband nor I have fallen seriously ill this winter. Owing to the long dry spell, this winter has seen all major hospitals in Beijing overflowing with people suffering from respiratory problems.

So, were we exercising more or eating healthier? Not exactly.

The only reason I can think of is the floor heating that has kept our apartment temperature at around 15 C. Like many other housing projects in Beijing, the developer of our compound made the houses not being linked to the public heating system, a major selling point. Individual owners can turn on the heating or switch it off, as desired, to save money and stay comfortable, said his advertisements.

Beijing residents pay between 16 and 30 yuan ($2.34-4.38) per sq m for heating, and these costs are rising. Public heating is available from Nov 15 to March 15 and this has remained unchanged for years.

However, anyone who has endured Beijing's winter knows that the two weeks before and after this period are the most uncomfortable. That is why my husband and I opted for independent heating when we decided to become a slave to the bank for our dream home.

This was fine, but for the fact that our penny-wise developer "forgot" to provide outside insulation for the walls. Thus, when the outside temperature dropped below 0 C, we were literally burning 200 units of electricity, or 100 yuan per day, without sending the red line in the thermometer above 15 C.

However, every cloud has its silver lining. The cold forced us to live the way our ancestors did, millions of years ago. Devoid of public heating, we became closer to Mother Nature.

Besides putting on layers of sweaters and wearing a hat to bed, we had curtains tailor-made for the doors and windows, to block out the cold.

This was all so new to us, as we were used to staying in just cotton shirts at our other apartment whose public heating warmed up the air instead of the floor. Even when we shut down all the heaters, the temperature still soared to 28 C.

Whatever we saved on heating bills, we more than made up with our hefty hospitals bills for our frequent colds and coughs.

Nowadays, whenever I enter any room with traditional heating, my cheeks turn red in less than 10 minutes, and I feel so light-headed that I can't concentrate on anything.

With floor heating, I remain alert through the day, as my feet are planted firmly in the temperate zone, and my head works quite well in the alpine zone!

I can't help wondering: What if all buildings in Beijing were to adopt floor heating? Will more people enjoy better health and stay more alert at work?

The initial costs of providing floor heating are, of course, higher varying from 150 to 300 yuan per sq m.

I hear that many buildings near the Olympic Park already have such heating in place. So, maybe, my idea is not all that naive.

As we delight to discover the first blades of grass turning green, I'm sure that when the stuffy days of August arrive, no one in my family will turn on the air-conditioner, as by then we would have got used to being in sync with nature.