What Items In The Home Typically Use The Most Electricity?

Our homes are filled with different appliances and gadgets. From fridges to computers, these devices help to make our lives simpler. However, this comes at a cost as most of these cannot be powered without electricity. This means that through the year, you should expect a big chunk of money to go towards your energy bills and keeping things on.

Finding out how to be energy efficient is a challenging journey that involves many steps. However, before you can trim down your bills, you must realize what is causing them to be so huge in the first place. In most cases, the amount of energy that an appliance uses will vary depending on its purpose, but several devices generally take up more electricity than others. So, if you aim to conserve energy, you should be on the lookout for how you are using the following appliances.

Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning

As the seasons change, we rely on certain appliances to keep us comfortable. In the summer, air conditioning is our closest protector against the heat while we rely on indoor heating during the coolness of the winter. Unfortunately, these appliances run at a high cost and are responsible for up to 46% of all electricity use in U.S. households.

How much energy your air conditioning and heating use will depend on its efficiency and how often you use the system. So, the electrical consumption of a heating and cooling system in a typical household ranges from 850 to 2,000 kWh per month. However, there are several ways that you can reduce this figure. This includes using ceiling fans instead, tuning up your air conditioning, and frequently replacing air filters.

Water Heating

Unless you are only a fan of cold baths, water heating is a highly crucial appliance in many homes. This can especially be the case as temperatures begin to collapse in the autumn and winter seasons. Naturally, this makes it a culprit for high energy use and accounts for up to 14% of electricity costs in U.S. households.

The amount of energy that this appliance will use will depend on its age and type, as some water heaters are tankless. For newer heaters, you should expect that they will continue to operate for at least three hours a day, while older heaters may need to run for about five hours. This means that you can expect your heater to use at least 405 kWh each month.

In any case, there are several ways that you can take the sting of your electricity bill by changing the way that you use your water heater. Firstly, we suggest that you set the temperature of your heater to 120F or less, as this requires less energy to heat. You may also want to try insulating your water pipes. Finally, we highly recommend that you try a solar water heater instead, as installing one can cause your water heater bills to reduce by up to 80%.

Lighting

While it may not seem like it, our light bulbs silently use a high amount of electricity. A typical U.S. household should expect their lights to account for up to 9% of all energy costs. However, how much electricity is used will depend on how long you leave your lights on and the type of lighting fixtures you have in your home.

In the case of incandescent lighting, a single bulb can use up to 6 kWh per month. So, if you have about 30 bulbs in your home, this will be 180 kWh per month. However, there are several ways that you can make the lighting in your home more efficient. This includes switching to LEDs, using natural light whenever it is available, and turning off lights when you are no longer in a room.