Tuesday 19 November 2019

Minimizing our energy footprint for winter

It's easy to have a low energy footprint in summer. Electricity is more than covered, there's no need for heat and walking is a pleasure. And I have SUVskam. The Macan has pretty good gas mileage for an SUV but it's still an SUV...arrgggg.


It's easy to get super enthused about converting everything to electricity in the summer when we are exporting onto the grid. Maybe we should get an electric stove instead of sticking with gas once our 30+ year old Maytag needs replacing. Should we consider electric heat and get rid of our gas service altogether? Alberta generates 50% of electricity from coal so perhaps not.

When November hits and it's dark and gloomy it's a different story. Changing over to LED lights and finding sources of electricity leaks really pays off in the winter. We had a battery charger for yard tools that was just sucking up electricity. One small habit change - charge batteries after use with a top-up early in the morning fixed that. LED lights are amazing. We had changed all our inside lights but not our outdoor pot lights. After seeing how our electricity use spiked when we turned on our yard lights for Bennie, we made the change. In late fall/early winter our goal is to offset our always-on electrical use.

Natural gas use becomes a thing in the winter as we use it not only for heating but for cooking. We've, of course, lowered our temperature and we've always had (and used) a programmable thermostat. Cooking with gas reduces coal burning from electrical use. Just cooking/baking larger batches can help I just wish gas stoves were easier to clean. That will be a priority as we replace our over 30 year-old range next year.

Then there's the SUVskam. The driving experience is important to me - it's why I have a Porsche and had a VW GTI before that. I also live in a winter climate where having all-wheel drive is an advantage (although the problem with the GTI was clearance, not traction). I have also been aware of the effect vehicles have on air pollution. So I take public transit when available, will drive in a carpool for free and cluster tasks to optimize driving alone. I have mostly no car days even though we have no transit system. I'm lucky to be able to 1) walk comfortably for 20 minutes at a time 2) have a wide range of services (vet, fast food, gym, stores) nearby and most importantly 3) have the time available. I plan to keep bundling up and walking as long as it's above "feels like" -20 C. On our purchase list is the Macan EV.

Many people denigrate personal efforts as insignificant while overlooking the cumulative effect of those efforts - especially over a larger population. Governments should ensure options are available to those wanting to lower their footprint. It should also reward companies that provide education and tools to help other countries lower their footprint through better farm practices and cleaner energy.

No comments:

Post a Comment