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Comment by skrause | Hacker News Reader

I live in Germany and honestly didn't notice any difference. I heated my home normally and it also didn't feel colder in other places I visited.

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My uni didn't turn on the heating on Mondays at all. When I went there to study in the library (I learn there better than at home) I was always wearing a Parka.

Also, the gas price of my dad increased from 4.8 cents per kWh to 14.2 cents per kWh as an existing customer. People who were moving at the time and were new customers had to sign contracts well above 20 cents per kWh.

So, you probably only didn't "notice any difference" if you have either deep pockets or your energy supplier has a very foresighted buying strategy for a period of more than 1.5 years. (Many utility providers don't do this because they are speculators at the same time. Few like to pay a premium for forward contracts in the far future).

I visited Germany and honestly I felt pretty uncomfortable most of the time. I could tell that people were conserving on heating - everywhere from public buildings to restaurants to where I was staying.

I live in Belgium and my house was cold all winter because I couldn’t afford the price spike.

A villa, not an apartment?

I live far to the north, in an apartment, and didn't notice anything this winter, wherever I went. But I heard someone in their villa here nearby actually moved elsewhere, over the winter, because of the high cost of heating

I guess someone who owns a villa in Belgium doesn't really have to worry about electricity prices :P Unless they suddenly lost a lot of their wealth somehow.

Villa just means house in that context, I believe

I am 'owner' of a villa in Belgium. Villas in Belgium vary between 250K to 750K for a normal family 3 to 4 bedroom house. Typically a house has 1 kitchen, 1 bathroom. The price is very dependent on the location! Well we saw the monthly gas+elec price of 150 euros before the crisis, suddenly go 6-fold, so we did worry a lot. We decreased our heating a few degrees and used a lot more bio fuel during winter. Lately the price is about 3 or 4 fold the price of before the crisis.

Edit: by villa we typically mean a house that is not adjacent to another house.

750K US or Euros?

It certainly was much colder at my public sector employer in Germany. My hands turned blue in my office and I had to wear fingerless gloves some of the time.

Here in France it was the first winter where the cold actually bothered me, and the first time I had to heat in 5 years.

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