patrick.net

#highnaturalgasprices One of our readers brought a problem to my attention that we all are going to be facing regardless of where we are in the world-the very high price of natural gas. Those of you in the Southern Hemisphere are going into summer. You will get a bit of a reprieve. Those of us here in the Northern Hemisphere are facing winter. We could be paying five times as much for the natural gas that heats our home or apartment, as opposed to last year. There could be draconian measures like keeping the thermostat at 60 degrees Fahrenheit (15.5556 Celsius). It could be worse than that.
Depending on where you are in the world, electricity could be your saving grace. Due to solar power, Elena and I enjoy cheap electricity. We use a system that is decades old. I discovered it while living in South Africa. An electric heater is filled with oil. Electricity warms the oil. Inertia takes over. Our bedroom stays "toasty warm" at night. The cost of such a heater is $60.00 US. This heating system is safe with a very low probability of a fire.
Our reader Artemis Westenberg lives in Holland. Electricity prices are subsidized by the government. She uses a new state-of-the-art heating system to keep her home warm. I will let her describe it in her own words:


"An infrared heating panel heats the wood of my floor, the wood of my desk. That is a much more efficient use of electricity.

If I had the right electric outlets here, I would simply buy one and mount it to the ceiling."

Problem solved in that case. "

If the economics of substituting electricity for natural gas work for you, you should also consider switching your cooking from a natural gas stove to some high-level electric cooking device like a Ninja grill.