The cold causes great crowds and not only in the expected places. Heating technicians are short-handed and in nature people crowd each other to enjoy the winter sun. At the same time, it is extremely busy at wool sellers, for example at Rieneke van de Wolboerderij. “People who don’t go outside want to make something beautiful and warm.”
Calling a heating installer takes a while these days. From Halsteren to Sint-Oedenrode, many people appear to be calling. Remarkably, not so much to report malfunctions, but mainly with questions about their heating. “Most people have proper maintenance carried out,” explains Mark van den Berg of Warmte Totaal de Meierij, explaining the small number of malfunctions at a temperature of minus six degrees.
He also gets questions about the boiler, although they are sometimes quite strange. “Someone called who couldn’t hear his boiler. I was able to reassure him: that’s how it should be. There was also someone who heard a tapping sound, which is not strange either.”
Many heating companies are experiencing a staff shortage and are already busy with regular maintenance. The crowds due to the cold are on top of it. Mark thinks it’s nice. “Some callers have turned me into a half-psychologist, but at the end of the day, if you have helped someone with a breakdown find warmth again, it becomes clear how much fun the work is.”
“We send out as many as 200 orders a week.”
The warehouse of the Wool Farm in Best is completely full, because owner Rieneke Vermeer knows that the number of orders increases considerably when it gets cold. People are increasingly knitting their own sweater, but homemade socks in mixed colors are also hip.
“Pure 100 percent wool, Merino wool, is mainly ordered. I buy it from a Swiss and Norwegian brand, nice and warm. You need more than 20 balls of wool for a sweater. At the moment, we are sending out as many as 200 orders per week, including books and patterns.”
“Look how happy people become.”
Not only people enjoy the cold, it is also good and important for nature. “A number of bacteria freeze to death and plants go dormant due to the cold. Rest is also good for plants and trees.” This is what the always good-humored forester Frans Kapteijns tells us from the sunny nature in Oisterwijk.
Frans, like heating man Mark, has become a bit of a psychologist. Because the forester sees another big advantage to the cold sunny weather. “After all the rain in recent weeks, you should see how happy the sun makes people, fantastic!”
MORE ABOUT THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE COLD:
Don’t wait too long to start skating: it will be over in a few days
Roadside assistance works overtime during cold: ‘My car didn’t do anything’
This is why heating systems fail as soon as it freezes