Heating, cooling and telecoms

All things change and some change much more than others. Take the relationship between the cost of telecommunications and that of heating and cooling our own homes. For more than 30 years, and ever since we've owned a single family home in the United States, I have kept track of these expenses.

In the early 80s, telecom cost was about 6% of the cost of heating (not cooling, we didn't have air-conditioning then) and we didn't use the phone as we do today, plus international communications were still extremely pricey. We also used oil for heating which was relatively expensive.

In the mid-eighties, we moved to Utah and took advantage of cheap natural gas which cut considerably into our heating bill. At the same time, fac-simile machines appeared and required a second phone line. Mobile telephony came at the beginning of the nineties and added more costs to the family budget. Then, dial-up internet and cheaper international telecommunications came in the mid-nineties and boosted consumption even more.

Before the millennium, the advent of DSL and even more affordable international calling kept on growing the monthly phone bill. The introduction of Voice-over-IP in the early 2000 saved some money for a while before smart phones ate all that up.

During all that time, energy cost have kept constant and in fact have come down when adjusted for inflation. Telecoms that once were just 6% of the cost of heating, cooling and cooking have grown to become 155% of that same expense in 2011!