Energy Nerd Alert: Energy efficiency in cold climates

I've been really interested to see some of the things that Alex and Verena take for granted, like switching off lights, closing doors to keep the heat in, and other 'good habits' that Australia could learn a lot from (making our homes more comfortable, and our bills cheaper, in the process).



Good design is, by necessity, instinctive here – the cold winter climate demands double glazing, double doors, super thick walls and proper door seals as standard.

Austrians are apparently quite proud of their record in energy efficience and renewables, according to the Austrian Energy Agency.

Heat pumps are used extensively in industry and domestic heating plant (economically viable because most people live in 3-5 storey apartment buildings with shared plant) to recover and reuse waste heat, reducing CO2e emissions by some 850,000 tonnes per year.

About 22% of Austria’s energy comes from renewable sources - about half of it is hydro, the other half mostly biomass, with a tiny contribution from wind turbines (some of which we passed on our way to Melk, see below) – placing it third behind Sweden and Finland. The remainder comes from fossil fuels.

And public transport is acessible, warm, clean and frequent, but not entirely cheap. An all day travel card costs 5 euros ($A8.50) for 24 hours, a single trip on any one vehicle costs 2 euros ($A3.50). But it's still much better for getting large numbers of people around the narrow streets, and many people don't even have cars.