We get quite a few questions here at Dominion asking for a breakdown of where energy is consumed within the home. We look to one of our partners, Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) to cite a comprehensive chart on End Use of energy, which is shown below.
Things to notice:
- Air Conditioning and lighting are the two largest single sources of consumption at 15% each.
- Your color TV is a whopping 8% of your consumption. Turning your TV off when not watching could shed energy consumption.
- Water heat is another 8% of your consumption. Getting a hot water jacket really pays dividends.
Don’t forget to share this page to help others conserve energy and save money.
3 comments:
I've found great tips for energy conservation in the ENERGY STAR @Home tool: www.energystar.gov/home. The tool has energy efficiency tips for each room of the house and provides information for the products that are typically found in each room. I recommend checking it out if you're wondering how you can lower the energy consumption of one of the products listed in the pie chart in this blog.
did anyone else notice that the single biggest category was "other uses"?
that's kind of hard to believe.
What are the sub-categories that would apply to most residential uses of "other"?
Also.. the single biggest problem that people have in cutting back on their energy usage is that there is no feedback mechanism..that actually let's them know when the steps they have taken are actually resulting in less energy use.
I think most everyone does not want to use more than they need to.. but most folks don't really know...for sure.. for their house.. what the areas of use are..that they can then target.
Looking at an energy use chart is like looking at a chart of items with the calories next to each; only when you are actually "weighing" yourself each day do you really know that your "diet" is effective.
So.. I would urge Dominion to consider ways and means to allow every customer who wants to - to have installed ...the real-time usage software.
Thanks for your comment Larry.
The "Other" section can include appliance such as an iron, telephone, coffee maker, phone/camera chargers, electric razors and toothbrushes, and alarm clocks. Essentially other appliances in the home that also draw energy, but not enough to have a separate sliver on the pie chart.
In response to your comment about empowering customers with real time information, you may know that Dominion has presented an energy conservation plan which is part of a larger strategy to meet future energy needs for our customers. A program introduced in our plan includes power cost monitors that display how much electricity customers are using and at what cost.
You are right Larry, you need to be able to see the instant effects to your bill by curbing usage and conversing. The video we have on our site helps explain the PowerCost Monitor device and explains how we are currently piloting this program with selected customers. We are in the process of collecting data and will be able to see how much energy a customer was able to save by just knowing when you are using it.
You can read more about our energy conservation plan at:
http://www.dom.com/news/elec2008/pr0619.jsp
Video: http://www.dom.com/media/video/powercost/
Another way to see how your home is using energy is to complete a Home Energy Profile with our Energy Calculators. You will receive a personalized set of energy recommendations and see the savings: http://www.dom.com/customer/efficiency/energy_audit.jsp
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