In 2012 , American home devour 3.65 billion kilowatthours ( kWh ) worth of electrical energy — up from 720 million kWh in 1950 — more than double per menage than our British counterparts , and secondly only to China . How did the American home become such an energy squealer , despite so many advances in efficient appliances and grammatical construction ? fault the American Dream .
Electricity Consumption by the Numbers
That3.65 billion kWhis just part of America ’s full annual energy consumption , but it is overwhelmingly employed by the residential and commercial sectors . According the the US Department of Energy , the residential sector alone consumes 37 percentage of the total electrical energy production — that ’s an average annual consumption of 10,837 kWh , or 903 kWh monthly . Louisiana residents consumed the most electrical energy in 2012 with 15,046 kWh , while Maine consumed the least , just 6,367 kWh , though this is due partly to LA ’s ubiquitous electrically - repulse A / coke unit and Maine ’s opposing reliance on heating system oil .
In the residential sphere , most of the electricity is used for air conditioning , icebox , space and water heating , lighting , and power appliances and equipment . You get it on , all of conveniences of the modern habitation that the 1950s promised us . Per the EIA , the electrical energy usage of an mediocre American menage breaks down like this :
There are some interesting numbers game to mark in the tabular array above . For one , a big part of our intake survive towards keep our domicile perch and cool . That ’s directly impacted by the tardily grow floor plan of American homes ( which we ’ll discuss more shortly ) . Second , televisions and set - top cable boxes alone suck down 93 billion kWh annually , more than double what we spend running our home computers ( we ’ll discuss this more in a 2d as well ) . But most importantly , nearly a stern of our electrical energy employment give way towards accuse portable electronics and other miscellaneous gadgets . The mobile revolution may have freed us from power cords , but only temporarily .
And while US electrical energy ingestion has exploded since the middle of the last century , we appear to be reaching market saturation . Consumptive growth has slow down from 9 percent year over year in the fifties to just under 2.5 percent at the tail goal of the 1990s . analyst expect the pace to uphold to drop down to around 0.8 percent by 2035 .
However , even as American consumption increment slows , the rate of electricity consumption overseas is rapidly lucubrate . In 2008 , non - OECD nation ( developing nation not party to the 1960UN Convention on the Organisation for Economic Co - operation and Development ) consumed 47 percent of the humankind ’s total electricity supply . By 2035 , these nations are expected to consume 60 pct of the world ’s provision as they uprise modern industries and substructure .
On the other hired hand , the average British household wipe out just 4,227 kWh in 2012 — less than one-half of the American average . consort to theUK Department of Energy & Climate Change :
Between 1970 and 2012 , electrical energy use from consumer electronics increased by 376 percent , wet appliances by 151 percent and cold gadget by 96 percent . abode computer science , which had no recorded Department of Energy manipulation in 1970 , rose to 587 ktoe ( 11.63 million kWh ) in 2012 .
Since 1990 electricity consumption from consumer electronics increase by 77 percent and blind drunk appliances by 26 percent , whilst electricity consumption from lighting gismo and cold appliances fell by 14 percent and 21 percent respectively , reflecting improved efficiency . Home computing rise by 409 percent between 1990 and 2012 .
Overall , the intermediate electrical energy usance of British homes grew just 1.7 percent per twelvemonth between 1970 and 2012 . So how does the average American household still make do to expend 2.7 times the electricity than the British home despite adownward trendin total and per - capita energy role in recent years ?
How We Got Here
image : Alex Yeung
There are a number of contributing factors to America ’s bloated home energy use compared the the UK . For one , the British climate is much more mild than the United States — the UK does n’t have intolerably muggy weather of Florida or the bitingly moth-eaten winter of the Northeast — and , as such , UK homes typically do not employ place A / C units ( which account for 19 percent of American home consumption ) . Far fewer British habitation own tumble dryer compared to the US , too . According toa recent resume by OPower :
Whereas 85 % of US homes own vitality - quaff drier , the UK gets by on a 57 % dryerownership rate . And survey data from Opower ’s UK - based customer reinforces their comparative comfort with surviving sans tumble dryer : in our data sample , UK customer who embrace hang dry out far outnumber those who do n’t — by a ratio of 14:1 .
And it ’s not just clothes dryers and A / C units . British appliances are also promptly outpacing their US similitude in term of efficiency . In the UK , pectus freezers now run through 66 percent less push than they did in 1990 , upright deep-freeze expend 59 percent less , and new freezer habituate 55 percent less . likewise , crocked appliances like dish washer and laundry machines use up 39 percent and 32 pct less power , severally , than they did in the 1990s .
US gadget , while certainly more efficient than they were in the 1990s , can not mate these gains . Energy Star license refrigerator , for example , only have to be 15 pct more effective than non - qualified model or 20 percent more efficient than model that simply reach out to the federal minimum vigor efficiency banner . As the DoE’sNational Renewable Energy Labpoints out :
extended technical analytic thinking have demonstrated the large energy savings that result from the standards , especially in later old age as market insight increase . An American Council for an Energy - Efficient Economy ( ACEEE ) study estimates exchangeable economy . Over the 1990 - 2000 geological period , last present benefits exceed monetary value by an over three to one proportion . In 2010 , existing standard will make unnecessary 250 billion kWh ( 6.5 % of projected electrical energy use ) and trim back peak demand by 7.6 % ( ACEEE 2009 ) .
A 2003 subject ( Meyers et al . ) indicate that standards taking upshot from 1988 - 2003 will enchant cumulative reductions in vigour use from 1988 - 2050 of 8%-9 % relative to a no - standards baseline . The corresponding accumulative costs of these standards have been estimated to be $ 200-$250 million ( 2002 dollars ) , with a accumulative ( through 2050 ) benefit / toll proportion of 2.75:1 ( Meyers et al . 2003 ) .
A more recent subject area corroborates these findings , estimating 4 % and 8 % Department of Energy decrease lead from standard in the commercial and residential sectors , severally , for standards in place from 1987 - 2006 ( Meyers et al . 2008 ) .
That allege , Energy Star appliances can still chair to increased electricity usage according to the NREL :
One literary criticism of these types of labeling programs , both for the comparative information and ENERGY STAR endorsement , is their focus on efficiency rather than total wasting disease . product are segregate by stratum , allowing large , upscale , energy - consuming mathematical product to be a separate category from similar products with much smaller energy footprints . This enables products , such as refrigerator , to raise much big and bid more vigor - use up features without losing DOE - efficiency endorsements . A small , less energy - consuming product can be label inefficient using the same energy consumption per cubic loudness metric . Some rating of labeling course of study have cited the need for a cap on total energy consumption of product mark as energy efficient ( Deumling 2008 ) .
The UK ’s rapid strides in increasing its zip efficiency is largely due to a conjunctive countrywide push . While US efforts are primarily the result of province legislation and local utility programs , the UK ’s ambitious nationalEnergy Efficiency Strategyhas help the country trim down its primary energy consumption for the last seven consecutive years . What ’s more , the UK government is also participating in a regional EU effort to boil down energy use by20 percent by 2020 .
These belligerent steps have no American equivalent . And in one particular guinea pig , it ’s simply because nobody bother to ask .
Look No Further Than Your TV
image : Glowonconcept
one-half of all Americans — roughly 160 million of us — employ a set - top boxful from either the cable television service company or a unified TiVo equivalent . And for those of us that also apply a standalone DVR , which can consume up to 40 per centum more power than the cablegram box seat they ’re unite to , the dyad can suck down as much as 446 kilowatt hours a year . That ’s 10 pct more than a 21 - three-dimensional - substructure energy - efficient icebox , or about $ 3 billion in electrical energy per yr accord tothe Natural Resources Defense Council .
These equipment are such energy hogg because , unlike their European versions which drop into eternal sleep mode ( cut down ingestion by 50 per centum ) or hibernation mode ( reducing their attractor by 95 percent ) , American sic top boxes are always on , running at full power 24/7 . And as the NRDC subject area ascertain , these gadget are only fighting — either circularise provender or recording shows — some 33 percent of the day . The other 66 percent of they ’re just sitting there , slowly hiking your electrical energy bank note . across the nation , these devices waste more energy than it get hold of to power the integral state of Maryland for a twelvemonth .
This always - on state is actually marketed as a feature by many cable television company a means of ensuring that viewers will be capable to instantly start out watching the moment they turn on the television set rather than hold back 45 seconds for the programming guide to adulterate .
“ People in the energy efficiency biotic community interest a lot about these boxes , since they will make it more difficult to lour abode Department of Energy exercise , ” John Wilson , a former fellow member of the California Energy Commission who is now with the San Francisco - base Energy Foundation , told the NY Times . “ Companies say it ca n’t be done or it ’s too expensive . But in my experience , neither one is true . It can be done , and it often does n’t cost much , if anything . ”
However , to date , only five cable / artificial satellite providers provide Energy Star compliant set - top box in the US , andonly in specific food market : AT&T in Birmingham AL , DirecTV in El Segundo CA , Dish internet in Englewood CO , EPB in Chattanooga TN , and Suddenlink Communications in St Louis .
Of course , there is very niggling urgency from government regulators like the EPA to coerce cable companies and net providers to employ these energy - saving routine . Instead , the best we get is a voluntary programme wherein cable company can become Energy Star “ partners ” if they elevate between 25 and 50 percentage of their loge to Energy Star licence equipment . yield , an Energy Star transmission line box will consume , on average , 45 pct less DOE than non - dependant option , but their circumscribed available sternly curtails the program ’s effectiveness .
What ’s more , these companies have been slow to embrace the progressively stringent Energy Star requirement — which dropped from 138 kWh to 97 in September 2012 and again to 29 kWh in 2013 — or even include the Energy Star recording label on certified boxes .
“ The issue of feature more efficient equipment is of interest to us , ” Justin Venech , a spokesman for Time Warner Cable told the NYT . But , “ when we purchase the equipment , functionality and price are the chief considerations . ”
Apparently , even mention vim efficiency is taboo if it mean delaying the crying satisfaction that we ’ve been check to expect from television receiver . In fact , asWilson order the Times , when he was still on the CEC he would often ask manufacturers why the equipment never powered down . Their response : “ Nobody need us to utilise less . ” Which is exactly the level of go-ahead we have come to ask from such monopolies .
The Rebound Effect
It ’s not just the efficiency of our convenience and climate control systems that ’s increasing American home energy enjoyment . The sizing of our dwelling and the bold routine of devices we tamp down into them have an effect as well . It ’s known as the Rebound Effect .
Energy efficiency gains are only effective in scale down push consumption and carbon emissions if need for energy services continue static . Problem is , this does n’t often happen , with economic gains routinely outpacing those derived from efficiency improvements . By decoct the amount of vigour needed to run , these services become comparatively less expensive , which increase the need for them , thereby negating the savings from the added efficiency .
Image : U.S. Energy Information Administration , Residential Energy Consumption Survey
For example , while Energy Star - compliant A / coulomb units are now unglamourous , their energy savings do n’t cover the fact that their usage has double since 1980 . And while stoves and refrigerators are now more effective , they ’re now often keep company by a prominent influx of additional microwaves , dishwasher , apparel washers and dryers , multiple computers and TV Set , play systems , and DVRs — not to bring up the menagerie of mobile devices vie for space on your big businessman flight strip . It ’s little marvel why these appliances now constitute more than 33 percentage of our home electrical energy use .
Even the energy preservation deduct from novel construction methods are n’t enough to keep stride with economic growth . Homes built after the year 2000 account for 14 percent of the US housing market , according to a recentResidential Energy Consumption Surveyconducted by the EIA . Despite being 30 percentage larger than one-time homes , they consume roughly 2 pct more than their predecessors . That ’s some impressive savings — except that most of the efficiency step-up descend from subdue blank heating costs ( 21 pct less than older homes ) , due to a absolute majority of these new house being built in the warmer South rather than our northern tundras .
What ’s more , these new home often come outfitted with all the trappings of advanced consolation , translating to an 18 percentage vigor consumption increase since 2009 for appliances , electronics , and ignition , than that of older abode . The repercussion effect is therefore estimate at around 30 pct for new homes — that is , the add up custom of a more effective technology entail that it will only relieve 70 per centum of what is estimated by engineering models — though the result can range from 5 to 80 percent for specific situations .
America ’s particularly susceptible ; moving into bigger and unspoilt houses has been keep up as the American Dream since at least the Hoover administration . As Americans make wealth , we move into large house and fill them with more material . And nobody is go to permit the novel neighbor see them hanging their clothes on a note like a all-fired heathen when there ’s a brand new dress dryer to do the job . And if that fancy - pant A / C organization is so much more effective , why would n’t you bleed it 24/7 ?
So yes , while increase vigor efficiency is very necessary to reducing America ’s atomic number 6 footmark and our contributions to globose thaw , it ca n’t be the only answer . Because , as the American masses have shown , making services comparatively less expensive to run only encourages us to consort them more . [ WaPo – Wiki – OPower – UK Gov1,2 – LLNS – EIA1,2,3 – Europa – Carbon Brief – Science Daily – Energy Star ]
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