The Power of Winter

If you're anything like me, your power bills definitely spike in the winter. Between heating the house in our recent cold snap to using the electric kettle far more often to make some nice, warming tea, it can start to get pretty expensive!

So, how do you keep to being sustainable, even in these conditions?

Right now, I have three tactics that I use:

1. Don't turn up the heat. When it's cold, it can be tempting to hit the thermostat, but instead, I keep blankets and comfy sweaters in various locations around the house. Bundling up isn't only cozy, but it keeps the power bill down.

2. Have a snack and drink something warm. Digestion generates heat, so having a little snack will warm you up. I punctuate frequent little snacks with warm beverages. Oh, and I make a single batch of warm tea and keep it in a carafe so I don't have to keep using the electric kettle!

3. Get up and move. We all know that exercise will warm us up, but don't overdo it and get sweaty! That will cool you down even more. I just get up and have a brisk walk around every once in a while to warm up.

These are some things you can do right now, but there are even more options on the horizon. From passive house-style insulation to more renewable sources of power (geothermal anybody?) there's a lot on the horizon. Even dedicated micro-generation, something like OOM Energy, could make a big impact eventually.

But for now, I'll be getting cozy with my sweaters and tea.

--Lex, Green Calgary

What do you do to stay warm and keep your power usage down? You can let us know on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.