Household Power Usage

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

Imp

Lifer
Feb 8, 2000
18,828
184
106
HA! The two or three weeks we get to turn off the A/C is in April and/or October. Otherwise it runs nearly non-stop from May to September. lol Canadians! :awe:

It's more to do with cheapness than Canadian weather :). This past summer was actually pretty hot with weeks of 30+ C days, but I spent the majority of my life without A/C, so we just leave it off and tough it out.
 

MrDudeMan

Lifer
Jan 15, 2001
15,069
94
91
You guys waste a shitload of electricity. My house is 6,100 sq. ft with two AC units and we still have a hard time using over 1,000 KWH. I also have industrial equipment that I use frequently and three huge monitors connected to my desktop.

I installed a whole house fan this summer and our usage dropped by another 15%.
 

Engineer

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
39,230
701
126
1980 Sq. Ft. - 2 story house (no McMansion for me).
1 AC unit - Set at 73 degrees.
1459 KWh last month.

CFL's in almost every socket. LCD TV's (non LED). Several PC's (throttled) and sleep when not in use (after several hours). LCD monitors.

Gas water heater though.

Oh, and one kid that doesn't understand how to turn anything off, lol. That, and I often find the back door wide open (for the dogs), while 90 degrees outside, and my poor AC unit trying to cool down Lexington and the surrounding areas.
 
Last edited:

Slew Foot

Lifer
Sep 22, 2005
12,379
96
86
i feel a lot better about my house now. 3600 sqft, between 600-800 kwh a month. Of course, electric in CA is stupid expensive, 30 cents/kwh.
 

Svnla

Lifer
Nov 10, 2003
17,986
1,388
126
Yike. That's a lot of juice.

Me = less than 800 sq. ft. place, all electric place, 1 person, deep South of US, very hot in the summer (over 100 F plus humidity). The most I ever used was about 500 kwh or so.
 
Last edited:

IGemini

Platinum Member
Nov 5, 2010
2,472
2
81
636ft^2 apartment, live alone. All electric, mostly CFL lighting but what incandescent left doesn't see much use. Usage ranges 230 ~ 560 kWh with more spent during the winter for heating (might've forgotten to turn the heat back down a few days). Didn't use AC that much this summer.
 

Dedpuhl

Lifer
Nov 20, 1999
10,370
0
76
1200 sq ft home built in 2001.

~1100 kWh (June - October; 85-90F)
~650 kWh (November - May; 72-80F)
 

JimmiG

Platinum Member
Feb 24, 2005
2,024
112
106
It's more to do with cheapness than Canadian weather :). This past summer was actually pretty hot with weeks of 30+ C days, but I spent the majority of my life without A/C, so we just leave it off and tough it out.

Same here in Sweden. For a few weeks every year, we experience a rare meteorological phenomena known as "summer". This year, it was about 30C inside and so humid you could swim. However I'm not going to invest in AC and use it for 0 - 3 weeks a year. The rest of the year, heating is more important.
 

who?

Platinum Member
Sep 1, 2012
2,327
42
91
Have you cleaned your refrigerator coils lately? Are you taking into account that average temp's are the highest ever?
 

Imp

Lifer
Feb 8, 2000
18,828
184
106
It's called "a wife". Them and thermostats don't play nice together, no matter what time of year it is.

There are two of "those" in this house... one is cheap and one is rarely here, but that one opens windows with A/C or heat on -- thank goodness that one isn't here much.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
71,330
14,092
126
www.anyf.ca
Most woman don't know how thermostats work. They treat it like an on/off switch.

There are two of "those" in this house... one is cheap and one is rarely here, but that one opens windows with A/C or heat on -- thank goodness that one isn't here much.

My mom used to do that when I lived there, used to drive me nuts. If you're going to put the AC on make sure all the damn windows are closed or it's defeating the whole purpose. There's a reason they put the compressor coil outside.

Also DON'T open the windows "to get a brease" if it's freaking +25 out there.