See? This is me, in OUR lounge, using OUR Internet! Yay for me!
On a slightly less positive note, notice my hoodie (over a sweater), my sweat pants (over leggings), my moccasins (over socks), and my proximity to the heater. Let's just say it's a bit cold in here. I should mention, however, that I am plenty warm with all of this bundling, and J (being a more thermally normal person) does not feel the need to be layered. I just get cold SO easily, and I am still warming up from being outside most of the afternoon. But I am actually very encouraged - it is still cold outside, the heater is only on low, and the house is not unreasonably cold, especially if you're moving around. And we found another similar heater for the stunningly low price of $4.00 to go in J's office, so we're really set for a while, until we reassess next winter.
Gee, I dunno: a heater for $4--such extravagance! Does the house have central heat, and what is the electric rate? I know NZ relies a great deal on coal, but it also has a LOT of hydropower, unfortunately all on South Island, so transmission is a problem. Anyway the hydro would make electric heat cheap, and the coal expensive, so I'm curious. (For those of you bloggers who don't know me, I'm an EE working in renewable energy, and my NZ trip back some years ago was for PR on transmission lines.)
ReplyDeleteIt is only just getting colder here--trees thinking about turning, Monarchs hurrying thru. You are making me think upside down! Glad you're hooked up finally.
Ruth, the house does not have central heat - most houses here don't. Many houses have a fireplace for heat, but this one doesn't have that either, so we will be relying on space heaters.
DeleteNZ uses a lot of hydro, geothermal, and wind energy, but you are right, it mostly comes from the South Island. There are a lot of huge wind turbines along Manawatu Gorge, which is close to us, but I don't know how/where that energy is used. Since NZ uses so much renewable energy, it has very low carbon dioxide emissions, which is good, but it does struggle with producing enough energy where it's needed - especially because the vast majority needs to go to Auckland, which is on the far northern tip, and a long way from the South Island.
As for price, we (obviously) haven't gotten our first electric bill yet, but people say that it's not uncommon to pay $200 per month! Yikes! We'll have to see what we end up paying.
Oh, I remember heaters like that! It can get chilly in NZ.
ReplyDeleteRichard Harris
Hi Richard,
DeleteThey are impressive little heaters! I am surprised at how cold it gets, but I have to remind myself that it is still so much warmer than Ottawa or even Kansas.
nice moccasins,my sweet-ums.
ReplyDeletedaddy dean