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What Uses the Most Energy in Your Home?

Published

7 years ago

on

Warren Buffett describes his first rules of investing as: “Rule #1: Never lose money. Rule #2: Don’t forget rule #1”.

But losing money doesn’t just happen in a stock portfolio – it’s also a common occurrence in other facets of life. That’s why Warren Buffett leads such a frugal lifestyle. He knows that every extra dollar spent on something he doesn’t need is wasted capital.

In practically every house in America, capital is being wasted on energy consumption. That’s because the average electricity spend per year is $1,368.36 per year, and 35% of the power used is actually wasted.

This is neither good for your bank account or the environment.

What Uses the Most Energy in Your Home?

Today’s infographic from Connect4Climate shows the breakdown in the energy use of a typical home.

It highlights the average cost per year of different appliances, while also showing what uses the most energy over the course of the year.

What Uses the Most Energy in Your Home?

Modern comfort comes at a price, and keeping all those air conditioners, refrigerators, chargers, and water heaters going makes household energy the third-largest use of energy in the United States.

Here’s what uses the most energy in your home:

  1. Cooling and heating: 47% of energy use
  2. Water heater: 14% of energy use
  3. Washer and dryer: 13% of energy use
  4. Lighting: 12% of energy use
  5. Refrigerator: 4% of energy use
  6. Electric oven: 3-4% of energy use
  7. TV, DVD, cable box: 3% of energy use
  8. Dishwasher: 2% of energy use
  9. Computer: 1% of energy use

One of the easiest ways to reduce wasted energy and money? Shut off “vampire electronics”, or devices that suck power even when they are turned off. These include digital cable or satellite DVRs, laptop computers, printers, DVD players, central heating furnaces, routers and modems, phones, gaming consoles, televisions, and microwaves.

Warren Buffett would probably agree that a penny saved is a penny earned – and being more efficient with your energy use is good for your pocketbook and the environment.

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Maps

Mapped: Renewable Energy and Battery Installations in the U.S. in 2023

This graphic describes new U.S. renewable energy installations by state along with nameplate capacity, planned to come online in 2023.

Published

3 days ago

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May 30, 2023

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Renewable and Battery Installations in the U.S. in 2023

This was originally posted on Elements. Sign up to the free mailing list to get beautiful visualizations on real assets and resource megatrends each week.

Renewable energy, in particular solar power, is set to shine in 2023. This year, the U.S. plans to get over 80% of its new energy installations from sources like battery, solar, and wind.

The above map uses data from EIA to highlight planned U.S. renewable energy and battery storage installations by state for 2023.

Total U.S. renewable energy and battery installations, broken down by share

Texas and California Leading in Renewable Energy

Nearly every state in the U.S. has plans to produce new clean energy in 2023, but it’s not a surprise to see the two most populous states in the lead of the pack.

Even though the majority of its power comes from natural gas, Texas currently leads the U.S. in planned renewable energy installations. The state also has plans to power nearly 900,000 homes using new wind energy.

California is second, which could be partially attributable to the passing of Title 24, an energy code that makes it compulsory for new buildings to have the equipment necessary to allow the easy installation of solar panels, battery storage, and EV charging.

New solar power in the U.S. isn’t just coming from places like Texas and California. In 2023, Ohio will add 1,917 MW of new nameplate solar capacity, with Nevada and Colorado not far behind.

Top 10 StatesBattery (MW)Solar (MW)Wind (MW)Total (MW)
Texas1,9816,4621,94110,385
California4,5554,2931238,970
Nevada6781,59602,274
Ohio121,91751,934
Colorado2301,1872001,617
New York585095591,125
Wisconsin4939921,034
Florida39780980
Kansas00843843
Illinois0363477840

The state of New York is also looking to become one of the nation’s leading renewable energy providers. The New York State Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA) is making real strides towards this objective with 11% of the nation’s new wind power projects expected to come online in 2023.

According to the data, New Hampshire is the only state in the U.S. that has no new utility-scale renewable energy installations planned for 2023. However, the state does have plans for a massive hydroelectric plant that should come online in 2024.

Decarbonizing Energy

Renewable energy is considered essential to reduce global warming and CO2 emissions.

In line with the efforts by each state to build new renewable installations, the Biden administration has set a goal of achieving a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035 and a net zero emissions economy by no later than 2050.

The EIA forecasts the share of U.S. electricity generation from renewable sources rising from 22% in 2022 to 23% in 2023 and to 26% in 2024.

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