It is the winter solstice here in Australia as I write this, which means short, cold days and a lot less sunshine than one might like. Cold weather often leads to contemplation, and having moved into a new home earlier this year, we are now assessing how to balance heating levels, taking into account comfort on one hand and the cost of energy on the other. With modern electricity providers able to provide hour by hour readings, a logging thermometer has given us the chance to experiment with how we set the controls.
The questions raised are both economic and philosophical. How much is it worth to be comfortable? Is it better to rug up, or to shell out? And just how do you decide where to draw the line? Hopefully a new programmable thermostat will help us zero in on a reasonable balance between comfort and cost.