"It is definitely not economical in terms of energy efficiency to install public heating in the south," said Han Xiaoping, CIO of china5e.com, an energy information website.

"The coldest time in the south may not exceed 60 days in each year, compared with 120 to 180 days in the north," said Han in an interview with China National Radio, "thus it does not do justice to build a complicated heating network from scratch."

Residents walk in snow in Dexing city,Jiangxiprovince on Jan 4. [Photo/Xinhua]

He added that the problem in the south also lies in insufficient heat insulation designs in architecture, which sees single-layer window glass installed in houses, making it difficult to keep warm.

Studies by Professor Jiang Yi with Tsinghua University, also an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, estimated that if the government build public heating networks in the south, it will increase the total energy consumption of the country's urban buildings by 4 percent.

Voices who favor the construction of public heating in the south warned that electricity-powered devices may not put these energy-efficiency-concerned experts at ease.

According to a report by China Academy of Building Research, ten major provinces in the south have witnessed a big surge in power consumption for heating by electric devices, from less than 100 million kilowatt-hours in 1996 to 39 billion kilowatt-hours in 2010.

Netizens even started a verbal attack on Shen Herong, an expert living in Jiangsu Province who said people in the south are used to wet winters and might not adapt themselves to indoor radiators which often make the air dry.

Qiu Baoxing, Vice Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, worries that providing public heating services in the south may jeopardize China's energy supply.

Meng Fei, a famous TV anchorman, also joined the debate, "what does the southern region refer to in China? People in the northeast consider others southern people, while those in the southmost Hainan Province call all the rest northern people."

Meng on his Sina Weibo wrote, "Several provinces in Central China, although lying to the south of the Qinling-Huaihe line, also have a freezing winter."

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