Elena, who grew up in the north of Russia where temperatures frequently fall below minus 30 degrees Celsius, says she has "never felt as cold," as she does in the Australian winter.
Elena is not alone in this. When Australians hear a Russian person complain of feeling cold in Australia, it usually becomes the subject of perplexed looks and jokes. But as they say in Russia, there is a grain of truth in every joke.
That Australia experiences cold weather often comes as a surprise to visiting Europeans - even more so when the mountains stay powdered with snow for two to three months.
Unlike the Russian winter, where the temperature drops below -30 degrees Celsius in some areas, in Melbourne the average temperature in July is 13 degrees Celsius.
So why are so many Russians feeling the chill?
“When we rented our first house we didn’t even think it was possible not to have a heating system in place," Elena Litovsky tells SBS Russian.
"It didn’t occur to us that we should ask and we struggled that winter."
Litovsky migrated from Murmansk - one of the largest Arctic cities in Russia.
She was stunned when she saw how Australians dress up their kids here in winter.
"Australians don’t have a habit to put proper warm clothes," Litovsky says. "You will see children running around almost bare foot, without hats wearing a simple t-shirt."
"They go school wearing shorts because it’s the school uniform and all of it in winter."
In Russia meanwhile, they take their winter attire more seriously – their clothes have fur or feather lining that sustain them through minus 40 degrees outside, and at home...well, from October to April (cold season) it is usually a balmy 26 degrees inside. Staying rugged-up inside the house is therefore not something that is done in Russia.
For this reason, many people who come from Russia believe the reason they feel cold in Australia is psychological: You don’t necessarily feel like rugging up when it's 15 degrees C outside.
Bill Shock
Elena and her husband Konstantin both say they were not prepared for the Australian winter.
Konstantin says that they use all possible electric heating devices to keep warm. When the bill of around $500 per month came through, they realised they needed to find an alternative solution.
They both agree, despite their love for Melbourne, they have never felt as cold in Russia as they did when they first arrived here, in Australia.
“Australia is frequently shown as a tropical country in the popular shows and for us, traditionally, South is associated with warmth," says Konstantin.
"These two combined create an image of an evergreen and warm place - But it’s a diverse climate here, especially in the southern rim of the country."
"Now we know."
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Soaring power prices in Australia
In a recent survey by Galaxy Research, half Australian families cut back on dining out and 43 per cent rebudget their household expenses around holiday time because of the energy cost impact. In spite of these saving strategies, one in every five Australians goes into debt or experiences financial hardship.
Considering this year's price increase in the energy supply market, an average household in Victoria is expected to spend around 3.46 per cent of their monthly income to keep the house warm. In New South Wales it’s slightly higher, around 4.21 per cent, but it's South Australia that bears the highest rise and will pay 5.18 per cent of the monthly income for a warm house.
This is only to keep the temperature around 20 degrees.
Energy Australia Source: Energy Australia
Russian households stay cosy for less
The district heating system in Russia sees warmth gradually distributed across all buildings from a local thermal power station. It has been criticised as wasteful, as it causes a large oversupply and eventually waste of energy - however for the benefit of local households, it has a relatively low cost per kWh.
Only newly-built constructions have a temperature control bar. Although there is no single tariff but with general conditions equal, we can compare that Muscovites pay AUD 0.099 per 1kWh, according to information on the Russian energy website, when Melburnians are charged around AUD 0.24 averaging off-peak and peak usage, according to the tariffs provided by Energy Australia.
It's clear that staying warm in the Russian winter requires less energy. The bill below is a generic example of a monthly winter bill for a three bedroom apartment - around 70 square meteres. It says that the usage is 360 kWh per month - lower than the average winter usage provided by Energy Australia, which is stated as 489 kWh per month for an average household. In Australia the average household size is measured by residents: 2.6 people.
In the Russian capital, the average wage is almost twice as high as the rest of the country (about AUD $1280 per month), says the Russian Federal statistics website. Here, Moscow dwellers give 2.5 per cent of their income to heat up their apartments in the middle of the frosty Russian winter.
Mosenergo data Source: SBS
Winter Energy usage in Russia Source: SBS
The Aussie solution? Slip, slop, slap and wrap
Melbourne is a city with a highly changeable weather which is caused by its geographic location. Due to the cold front from the Southern Ocean, Tasman Sea and mainland all meeting there, the city is very susceptible and volatile to the temperature jumps.
They call it the city of four seasons in one day. It’s often pointless to plan for a stable weather.
The saying goes "if you don’t like Melbourne weather - wait for ten minutes," - it will always change.
It’s an expensive habit to maintain a tropical indoor temperature on a frosty Melbourne morning, especially if the house has no ducted heating.
Some Russian migrants say that the correctly set up heating system is the key to a warm house. For others though, the Aussie-inspired solution of fleece shirts, UGG boots and electric blankets have become the reality of their new Melbourne lives.
