

The other night I came home and found my housemate sitting in the kitchen, all four stovetop gas burners going full bore.
“Are you cooking something?” I asked.
“No, I’m just cold.” He responded.
I spluttered at him to please put on a jumper, or wrap himself in a blanket, or even try turning the oven on instead. “I don’t want to pay for that waste of energy,” I said, probably a bit more grumpily than I needed to.
Our house is a draughty old terrace. A cool sanctuary in the summer, in winter it’s a bit punishing. I usually solve it by wrapping myself in a blanket and never taking off my socks.
I also try and encourage my cat to sleep right next to me at all times.

Who doesn't love cat cuddles? Image: iStock
One of my housemates warms up with a hot water bottle, another has a small heater and the strong constitution of someone who spends a lot of time in Canberra. (It is really cold there, guys.)
Basically, we’re pretty resourceful, and it’s a real point of pride among us that we manage to keep our energy bills so low.
My housemate who gets the bills likes to tell people that our four-person household only uses as much energy as your average two person one.
How do we do it?
We don’t have super-long showers, or leave the lights on if we’re not in the room.
We use energy saving bulbs in all of our lights, and try not to turn on the heat lamps in the bathroom unless it’s really, really cold.
