The south of New Zealand is colder than Western Europe, and the difference in housing quality is huge (poor heating, no isolation beyond the paint on the wall).

I've definitely been cold more in NZ than anywhere else, and I don't get cold all that easily.

Winter in southern NZ is comparable to winter in Paris for nighttime temperatures and warmer for daytime temperatures[1].

New Zealand as a whole has warmer winters than the French Riviera[2].

[1] https://www.worlddata.info/climate-comparison.php?r1=fr-ile-...

[2] https://www.worlddata.info/climate-comparison.php?r1=fr-cote...

Your link shows that Southland is significantly colder than France for much of the year. No, the winters don't get freezing cold; it's not Iceland. But it never gets very hot either. Overall, it's colder than Western Europe.

Comparing "New Zealand as a whole" doesn't make any sense; the differences in the country are too large. It's like drawing conclusions about the climate of one state based on the United States as a whole (and even within some states there can be pretty large differences).

That sounds like parts of Spain. I lived in the south of Spain for a winter as I wanted to escape true winter. I live in Lithuania, and winter to us means -25c. My thought process was 'Spain is warm'.

While I was there I think the coldest it got outside was 3c one night, in the day it was above 15c every day and almost all days were sunny. The thing is though the apartment had no insulation and the windows didn't close properly (I could put my finger through the gap). It wasn't that it was a run down apartment, the rest of it was really nice (amazing marble courtyard) - this is just how housing is there.

As such inside - with a electric heater on all the time we were home - it barely reached 18c. It was also very humid as it was by the sea, so the whole time we were so cold. Compare this to where we live in Lithuania, where we don't even turn the heating on until it reaches freezing outside. Winters in Spain are not warm.

I get that NZ is fairly temperate. Still, would you feel comfortable inside on a winters morning with your thermostat set to 40F?

That was my life for a while. The bedroom was warmer (space heater still worked despite gaps in the floor boards & single glazed windows). I'd get up out of bed, put on a few layers of clothing, then walk out into the cold living room to start a wood fire. Completely normal thing to do here for all but the wealthiest people.

I do know what you mean. I grew up in northern Canada where seeing -40 was an annual occurrence. But when I've traveled to warmer places I've often found that I can be colder indoors than I ever would be at home.

When it's the difference between life and death then buildings have central heating. But if it's a matter of comfort, central heating seems to be relatively rare. Even in the wealthiest countries.