Since we moved into our house, the electricity consumption has been rising, despite my attempts to curb it by installing energy-efficient appliances. This time last year, we consumed 35kWh/day, and this year it's up to 50kWh/day. Even when we were away on vacation, the house consumed 24kWh/day! I feel like I've worked quite hard to reduce our usage... and have no idea why I'm losing the battle.
- Replaced washer dryer with Energy Star appliances (the old ones broke)
- Replaced one water heater with Hybrid Heat Pump (old one broke), and plumbed the second water heater in series, so the Heat Pump does most of the work. It's on Heat Pump only mode and uses ~3kWh a day, way better than the old one that used ~15kWh/day!
- Turned off the pond pump, and replaced with low energy aerator, and will put a timer in for spring
- Replaced over 120 light bulbs with LED bulbs. We still have ~60 incandescent... but mostly in rooms we don't use. I didn't find a good option for LED candelabra lightbulbs.
- Turned off old second Sub Zero fridge at the breaker
- Installed R49 insulation in the attic, sealed gaps in the ceiling and replaced seals on the storm doors
We do live in a big (5000sqft), old (1950s) house. Our heating is oil, and range runs on propane. The heating system is forced air, and the blower fan is set to auto.
We don't watch a lot of TV, though we have a couple of 60" modern smart TVs on standby. It's winter, so the AC, pool pump etc. are turned off. My wife has a laptop that she unplugs at night. We do have twin Sub Zero fridge/freezers, which should consume ~3kWh/day.
The only things plugged in full time are Nest and Honeywell security systems, Google Wifi, a new Verizon Fios ONT, Router and Cable Box. I estimate these are using 100-150W in total.
Am I missing something obvious that we should have done? It seems insane to me that our house consumes 1kW even at night when we are all sleeping!
December 09, 2018 at 01:04PM
