Not politics but we do have an energy topic; and energy usage plays in important role in modern social self-organisation. A graph of my household Kwh usage for 2006.

I am currently in the Northern Hemisphere which accounts for the electricity being high in summer when the air conditioner gets a workout. The gas usage is also high through the late autumn, winter and early spring when temperatures drop.

Gas is not as expensive per Kwh as electricity is, but both have volatile rates which go up in peak periods. So the energy bills in summer and winter end up being about the same despite the graph suggesting that gas would be the higher bill.

This house has central heat/air which is pumped through the house by ductwork. The furnace is in the basement and the air conditioner is outside. I am thinking at this stage that the simplest methods to reduce consumption would be to put in a digital thermostat which can be programmed to allow for lower temperatures at night. The current one is analogue.

With the electricity usage it might be worth updating the air conditioner to a more modern one (I think the current one is about nine years old) which is more energy efficient.

Plenty of tips in the links below:

• Reduce energy consumption in winter
• Reduce energy consumption from air conditioning
• Strategic Tree Planting

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