Why Jimmy Carter Was Right

As I write this it is 17.45 GMT on December 16th 2011. According to Met.ie the temperature at my nearest Met station in Ballyhaise, Co Cavan was 1 degree Celsius (33.8 F) at 1700 hours. By now the outside temperature here must be down to zero. The temperature in my kitchen is 21 degrees (69.8 F). A difference of 21 degrees.

A year ago around here the nighttime temperatures were falling to -15 c (5 F). On December 20th 2010 the coldest Irish day ever recorded was at the Ballyhaise Met Station, with the highest daytime temperature of only -9 c (15.8 F).

This winter has not yet produced temperatures this low so it's taking a lot less timber to heat the house. Normally we like to keep the kitchen at a balmy 21 or 22 Celsius on a winter night. But last winter during the very cold weather we put on an extra layer of clothes and settled for 17 c to save fuel.

When it was -15 outside and our target was 17 degrees indoors we were trying to keep a difference of 32 degrees. And the law of diminishing returns applies with a vengeance, when you want a difference of 32 degrees. It takes a lot more fuel than the 21 degree difference I have right now in my kitchen.

When you get to a 32 degree difference every extra degree you want has a huge extra cost in fuel. When we tried to keep our kitchen at 22 degrees instead of 17 degrees during the very cold weather of 2010, those extra five degrees almost doubled our fuel consumption.

The easiest way to save on heating costs is to accept a lower difference between internal and external temperatures, every degree less you accept will result in major fuel savings. President Jimmy Carter in the late 1970s told the American people he was turning down the thermostat in the Oval Office and putting on an extra sweater to save fuel. This is still good advise.