The Energy Junkie

It's like I can almost see the expression on your face, after reading the title of my post. Most likely I've never come across as an energy junkie and you're right, I'm not one. The title is just for fun as I'm not going to write about what energy junkie really means, but my post is going to be about energy.

Photo by Pawel Czerwinski on Unsplash

After the first heatwave, we got another one at the end of last week and temperatures are hitting 35°C every day. For me, walking outside is still a normal activity, even in these circumstances, but the walls of my flat are really heating up and can't cool down as the lowest night temperature is 15°C, that lasts only for a couple of hours.

Lucky me, I have air conditioning as last year I finally had enough of the heat caused torture in the flat and had it set up. It helps a lot to live a normal life, instead of just trying to survive each day and night. It's a huge improvement regarding quality of life and productivity.

However, having extra energy consumption with the air conditioning, this year made me more cautious and organized.

Thank God, or thank development would be a better expression to use here, we have tools to help us make better choices and that's exactly what I'm doing.

When I was in the process of installing the air conditioning, spoke with someone who warned me that my electricity bill is going to cost me an arm and a leg, which was a bit surprising to hear as I know my numbers and knew there's no way it's going to affect me that much, so I asked the guy what makes him say that. He's a responsible and trustworthy person, so I knew he must have a good reason to say what he said and was right. He has a brother who was paying already an arm and a leg last year, before energy prices started to rise and his case was what this guy based his warning on.

My profession requires me to look at the details, to the substance not the form and absolute numbers will never charm or fool me, without knowing the details, so I asked what electronic appliances his brother has so he's paying that much. Turns out he's living like royalty, with appliances that could cover a whole restaurant kitchen, but what's even worse is there's no control over when or how he's using those appliances. Air conditioning is on even when it's not needed or nobody is home, the extractor hood is always on, even when no one is cooking, they have three fridges even if they only need one or two and so on.

Photo by Ramin Talebi on Unsplash

It's their right and their decision, if they think it's the best for them, I have no right to say anything, but I was glad to know those inflated bills are inflated for a a good reason.

My strategy always has been to optimize spending and only pay what's necessary. Many think it's a frugal lifestyle but it's exactly the opposite. The more you pay to others (for bills in this case), the less you have and I don't see why I should sponsor other people's lifestyle (the shareholders of the electricity company for example), when I can sponsor mine.

Finding the right way is an art these days in my opinion and a must too, if you want healthy finances for yourself.

I'm monitoring consumption through my smart home app and am up to date with the numbers. Recently I've revised my contracts with every service provider, to see if I have the best offer possible, plus have adjusted the monthly quantities I want to pay, so there will be no surprises when the 3 months real data is compared to the estimation and the line is drawn. Unfortunately solar energy for me is a no where I live now but the energy market is not ready to take these solar energy contributors seriously either. They need to grow up and respect those who cam help easy the burden on the energy grids instead of ripping them off.

Photo by Alexander Kaufmann on Unsplash

Last week we got the notification that the Cernavoda nuclear power plant is shutting down. After Unit 1, Unit 2 will also be shut down, due to the decrease in the Danube level. Romania is not the only country affected by drought, Hungary is shutting down its nuclear power plant at Paks too, for the first time in 44 years. This can give you an idea of how serious the situation is. I was told the prime minister asked citizens to turn off air conditioning to save energy. Fuel prices are still high,ever since Trump has decided to start the pissing contest with Iran. Oil price has been on a rollercoaster ride ever since, rising and dropping based on what Trump says to the media, but from where I stand, it doesn't seem to going back to levels we had before Trump gone crazy again.

You have to be stupid or seriously retarded to not realize how serious the situation is, not to mention we have an interim government for months now as political parties are more interested in fighting for power than to make some compromises to get out of the shit we are in, because of them. This political instability is costing the country a lot, inflation is already high, if not the highest in the EU, so borrowing is really expensive if not impossible.

In these conditions, if you don't protect your capital, no one will. They say take care of the pennies and the pounds are going to take care of themselves and this starts with your spending.

The how is the question and you can only achieve results if you learn everything that is to know. Letting providers decide for you can only lead to paying more than you should.

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