It’s the middle of winter where I live in the southern hemisphere.

We’ve just past the winter solstice and today I’ve been to a funeral.

Appropriately, the weather has been cold, gloomy and raining.  (Actually, the rain is very welcome, because we had such a warm, dry autumn.)

The temperature gauge just managed to scrape in a ‘high’ of 7.6^oC, although the apparent temperature was lower.

At that sort of temperature, anyone would feel cold.

And the dampness means that we feel the cold even more.

Although we’ve passed the winter solstice, the coldest time of the year is yet to come.

And that means that there’s a lot of heating still to do.

If you’re in the northern hemisphere, it’s the reverse.

You’ve just passed the summer solstice, but the hottest time of the year is yet to come.

And that probably means that you have a lot of cooling to do.

Unless…of course…you have a passive solar home.

But for the rest of us, we have to add heating or cooling.

So we can be comfortable.

So we can function well as civilised human beings.

And that heating (or cooling) costs money…and probably a lot of greenhouse gas emissions.

So…

1  How much of your heating (or cooling) will be going outside of your home?

How much money will be going ‘up the chimney’, ‘out the window’, or ‘out the door’?  Maybe it will just seem to ‘disappear into thin air’.  

Do you have any idea?

And what are you doing to stop it?

2  How do your energy bills compare with those of your neighbours? 

Does your energy utility let you know how your energy consumption compares with similar households in your area?  In Australia, each electricity bill now shows your household’s electricity consumption in comparison with others containing 1-4 people in your area.  It’s great for seeing how you are going in your sustainability efforts…especially in relation to your neighbours. 😉

If your electricity provider does not do this, you could ask your neighbours.  Not only will you get an idea of the energy efficiency of your home and household, but you’ll strengthen your relationship and sense of community. 😉

3  How comfortable is your home already this season? 

Feeling the cold (or heat)?

How confident are you that you will be comfortable and function well over the next month or two (or three)…without breaking the bank or helping to destroy our climate?

Not very?

So…what are you going to do about it?

&#x2713 If you’d like to know just where you can make the biggest difference to your energy consumption, just contact me…or send me a voice message by clicking on the tab on the right.

Till next time…be gentle to yourself and our world!