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What Uses the Most Electricity in Your Home?

If you are like a growing number of people, you want a better understanding of how you can control your energy use. You may want to get a better idea of how much energy you use to save money, you may want to leave a smaller carbon footprint or both. With that in mind, a key question you likely have is what uses the most electricity in a household?

  • Water Heater

In the typical household in the United States, the appliance that uses the most energy is the water heater. Industry experts advise that about 14% of electricity in a residence powers the typical water heater.

The water heater is something a homeowner has a considerable amount of control over. For example, you can lower the amount of energy used on your water heater by lowering the temperature. In addition, you can save money on the operation of the water heater in your residence by lowering usage.

  • Washer and Dryer
Although the hot water heater in a typical residence is the appliance at the head of the pack when it comes to electricity consumption, the washer and dryer are directly behind in second place. Indeed, in some homes, the washer and dryer clock in at the first place.

The washer and dryer account for approximately 12% of the electricity used in a typical household in the United States. As with the hot water heater, there are ways in which you can save on energy use associated with your washer and dryer.

An important step is to first choose energy-efficient appliances. There are washer and dryer options on the market today that are considerably more energy efficient than what has been available in the past. The money you save on electricity costs can make an investment in an energy-efficient washer and dryer a worthwhile investment. In addition, you can save electricity by only running these appliances when you have a full load of laundry.

  • Lighting

Not far behind the washer and dryer in your residence is lighting. When it comes to energy consumption, the typical home uses about 13% of its overall electricity consumption on lighting.

The lights inside and outside of your home are elements in which you can make marked savings in electricity use. First, you can replace lightbulbs with more energy-efficient options to make a dent in the amount of electricity you use each day on lighting. Second, you can be more conservative in how you use your lighting. A simple tactic to save on electricity used on lighting is to turn off lights when you leave a room. You might want to consider placing your lights on a device or system that automatically shuts them off a few minutes after a room becomes unoccupied.

When it comes to the question of what uses the most energy overall in a household, the answer nearly always will be a home's heating and air conditioning system. The typical residence will consume 40–50% of its overall energy use operating the heating and air conditioning systems. This large percent underscores the need to have a comprehensive understanding of energy consumption and where you need to look if you want to lower your overall usage to save money and shrink your carbon footprint.Heating and Air Conditioning

Finally, you can make significant strides in saving on electricity use after you become more aware of where you use the most energy in your home. Armed with this knowledge, you are able to understand where and how you can make reductions in energy use. In the process, you save money and do your part to make improve the environment.

 

 


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Location: Dallas, TX, USA

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