I reported yesterday on the cold weather gripping New Zealand. Here are some headlines:
And it turns out that the country used a record amount of electricity.
“Its those damn heat pumps in Auckland!” – Anonymous friend.
What most of the news does not say is that while the weather was cold with a few snow showers, it was mostly sunny. These are perfect conditions to put passive solar design to the test. So what did I do? Cooked a nice vegetarian curry.
And I even burned it while not paying attention. So I put on the rice…and burned that too. Ugh!
So to distract my wife from the burned supper, I suggested we play Scrabble.
Oh, what’s that in the background?
What’s it read?
That’s inside and outside temperature.
Must be my lucky day. Warm house. Hot supper. Beautiful wife. All for under 1 kilowatt of electricity. While the country as a whole was breaking records for electricity use, our passive solar renovations have come shining through with massive savings for us. Thanks sun.
And, on top of all that…
… a 50 point bonus on my opening turn! Happy! Happy! Well, not everyone.
Peace, Estwing
Eco Thrifty Living 