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Danish word of the day: Fyringssæson

Michael Barrett
Michael Barrett - [email protected]
Danish word of the day: Fyringssæson

Photo by Francesco Ungaro on Unsplash and Nicolas Raymond/FlickR

When the colder months arrive and the stoves must be lit.

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What is fyringssæson? 

Fyringssæson comes from sæson, “season”, and fyring, which comes from the verb at fyre, literally “to fire”.

At fyre can mean different things: to use a certain type of fuel is at fyre med, so at fyre med olie ("to burn with oil") means to use oil as a fuel for a fire or heating system. At fyre op ("to fire up") is the expression you'd use in relation to lighting or igniting a fire or turning on the heating: jeg fyrer op i brændeovnen means "I'll light the fire(place)".

Firing someone from their job is at fyre nogen fra sit arbejde; while at fyre af is to fire a weapon, but also to fire off a question.

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If you turn the heating on in your home but leave the windows open, you fyrer for gråspurvene: heat up the sparrows, meaning to let energy and heat go to waste.

Why do I need to know fyringssæson?

The fyringssæson is the period of the year in which heating is typically used in buildings. It normally runs from October 1st until April 30th, but some businesses or housing associations might consider it to begin on September 15th and end in the middle of May. This is becoming less common as the climate warms.

During the fyringssæson, landlords are required to ensure heating and hot water are adequately supplied to buildings, houses and apartments (this is obviously also the case year-round, but rooms are not usually heating during the rest of the year). Rooms should be able to reach a temperature of at least 21 degrees, and a range of 22-25 degrees is sometimes recommended.

Temperatures will usually be set lower at night, and also shouldn't be above the recommended levels during the day. This is to prevent mould taking hold in damp rooms. 

If you live in rented housing in Denmark, you should find that the radiators will come on after October 1st. Exceptional circumstances in 2022 mean that people who work in public buildings might have to wait a little longer.

Pronunciation

Fyr is pronounced almost like "fewer" but with the "w" sound removed. -ings is pronounced as it is spelled, and sæson is similar to the French saison, but with a shorter vowel sound.

Example

Der er flere ting, man kan gøre for at spare på varmeregningen i den kommende fyringssæson.

There are several things that can be done to save on your heating bill in the coming heating season.

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