Shocker of an electricity bill

Oh dear, our December electricity bill came to 800 RMB.  That's like 60 pounds.  Wow.  At the peak of summer it only came to half of that.  It seems our heating costs more than our cooling.  It was definitely cold, and also, we've had various guests, and so heating the living room overnight as well as bedrooms.

 

We think it has a lot to do with

- uninsulated walls (like ice).  You can have the heating on for 6 hours, but the walls are still icy cold.  Apparently Shanghai only this year mandated the use of insulated building materials.

- electric heating.  I don't understand why developers don't use the gas boiler to power water radiators.  It would be so much cheaper than using electricity.

- cheap windows and curtains.  Insulation 101.  An uphill struggle.

 

Looking back at that, it makes me want to buy an apartment and insulate it properly.  Or build an apartment and insulate it properly.  Sadly, I don't think I have enough moolah for either!  I could just carry on paying the heating bills of course, but from a Green point of view, I can't help but feel bad. 

 

China dramatically needs to increase its energy efficiency.  China has joined America and the rest of the world in seeing Oil as being critical to its onward development.  It's Oil that causes the wars nowadays, and now that there's another big player in the world jostling for scarce supplies of oil, the conditions just seem to get more and more tense.

 

Oh well, I guess we're not going to go to war over my heating bill alone...