Heating

As Russia Threatens Europe’s Energy, Ukraine Braces for a Hard Winter

In a thickly forested park bordered by apartment blocks and a playground, a dozen workers were busy on a recent day with chain saws and axes, felling trees, cutting logs and chopping them into firewood to be stashed in concealed sheds around Lviv, the largest city in western Ukraine. Ironworkers at a nearby forge are […]

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Germans Tip-Toe Up the Path to Energy Savings

AUGSBURG, Germany — Wolfgang Hübschle went into city government expecting a simple life, planning things like traditional festivals replete with lederhosen. Instead, these days he has the unpopular task of calculating which traffic lights to shut off, how to lower temperatures in offices and swimming pools — and perhaps, if it comes to it, pulling […]

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How Europeans Are Responding to Exorbitant Gas and Power Bills

A German retiree facing sky-high energy bills is turning to a wood-burning stove. The owner of a dry cleaning business in Spain adjusted her employees’ work shifts to cut electric bills and installed solar panels. A mayor in France said he ordered a hiring freeze because rising electrical bills threaten a financial “catastrophe.” Europeans have […]

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How Tech Can (and Can’t) Help You Fight Soaring Energy Bills

When the $370 bill arrived a month later, I realized that the rule of thumb was terrible for my two-bedroom home, which was built in the 1960s with insulation treated as an afterthought. Once the house reached 68 degrees, it couldn’t retain that temperature for long, so the furnace powered back on about 20 minutes […]

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