For proving my point.

"In shared dwellings, men are much more likely to have a room all of their own that is off limits to others."

Maybe in the magazines you read. But are they an accurate representation of how most people live? I don't know anyone in a shared home who has a room that is "off limits" to others, but plenty of people of both genders who have space that is considered "theirs" by the family.

And what is wrong with someone having their own space?

"Please don't say the kitchen is the woman's sphere, unless you never go there to get a beer."

That stereotype does not apply. In the Southgate home I do most of the cooking, the food shopping, and the cleanup - because that's what the situation usually demands. There's no beer in the house except for parties, too. Neither I nor "Ms. Yardley" (not her real name, of course) drink much.

"The most horrifying trend I ever read about was men decorating their rooms in their favorite team colors. You can even get wallpaper."

Why is that "horrifying"? If the home is big enough for it, and you can have your own equivalent space, why can't Mr. Smith have a room decorated the way *he* wants?

What you're saying is that you demand veto power over the entire house, top to bottom. Does Mr. Smith have the same power?

"I simply would not live with any man who wanted to do such a tasteless thing. It would be enough to drive a woman to beige."

So your "taste" must rule everywhere in the house? No exceptions, even in private spaces? What about Mr. Smith's taste?

Suppose Mr. Smith wanted to take up a hobby like vegetable gardening, woodworking, ham radio, or painting abstract art? Would his hobby have to be "tasteful" even if it was confined to a certain part of the house/yard?

It is exactly this sort of thing which proves the point. Thank you.

"And what is wrong with someone having their own space?

Nothing at all. For a lot of people, though, it's simply not possible."

Agreed! But that's not the point. Look at the context of my reply to AKASmith.

AKASmith said she couldn't live with a man who wanted to wallpaper a room in his favorite team's colors. I can see where doing so could be a problem if it was done in a shared space. Words like "tacky" and "tasteless" were used.

But it seemed to me that AKASmith is against a man having such a room even if there is plenty of space for it. Maybe I'm mistaken but the message I got was that she requires veto power over all spaces.

"I'm not sure how an electric heat pump improves matters, but I'd have to do some research."

There's a big difference between "electric heat" and an electric heat pump.

With "electric heat" (more properly "resistance electric heat", the electric energy is passed through a resistor, where it becomes heat. Same as in an electric stove, coffee pot, water heater, etc. One unit of electricity gives one unit of heat.

But in an electric heat pump, heat is extracted from something (say, the ground) and transferred to where it is needed (heating the house). The source gets colder, of course, but if it's big enough and warm enough that's not a problem. A heat pump system can transfer several units of heat for each unit of electricity.

First-generation heat pumps were "air source" - they used outside air as the heat source. This is simple and inexpensive to build, but when the air outside gets really cold it doesn't work well, and below a certain temperature doesn't work at all. Newer-generation system use the earth, ground water, and other sources of heat, rather than the air. Some forms of "geothermal" heat work this way.

The main reason you don't see more newer-generation heat pump systems is that they cost more to install. But as energy prices rise, the payback interval shortens, and you'll see more of them.