“Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, when one only remembers to turn on the light.” – Dumbledore
I know it could be hard for you that far north, but consider am energy back up for your family. The entire landscape of European energy consumption will be changing in the next year or so. I have taken myself off the Texas Electricity grid for the last 3 months, and as time passes I am accumulating more and more credits for the darker days.
In the middle of the Texas Summer, by electricity bill is zero for the last 3 months. I am generating more solar electicity than I consume, and I sell the surplus back to the grid, and earn credits. I am currently generating about 1.0 Mwh/month
I consume only about 0.7 Mwh/month.
I'd love to go solar for the summer, but it is out of reach at this point. The energy backups available would be a diesel generator where I am I think.
What we are planning though is adding some insulation to the basement ceiling (currently cold) to keep the house warmer in the winter - that way, the fireplace actually becomes useful. We have access to a lot of "close to free" wood :)
Out of curiosity, what kind of monthly energy consumption is normal there?
depends of the home you live obviously. For me, 2700 sq ft 2-stories home, 1995 built, so showing its age, I consume about 700kwh-1000kwh/month. Higher in summer, lower in winter; sort or inverse from you in terms of seasonality
Cooling is a killer in Aus too - because despite the climate, they do not insulate well.