Home Energy 101: Where Energy is Used...and Often Wasted!
Where Energy is Used at Home
The energy bills for a typical US single family home totals approximately $2,200 per year. Where does all this money go? About half of this spend is on just heating and cooling the air within the home, which is why weatherization and energy efficient heating & cooling systems are so important to lower your bills. The other half of the spend is on heating water and all of the large and small appliances, lighting, and electronics throughout your home. The chart below shows the breakdown of energy use by category and starts to give you a sense of where savings can be found.
Chart: Average Home Energy Use by Category
Source: Typical House memo and Typical house_2009_Reference.xls, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 2009. Based on $0.11/kWh electricity and $13.3/mBTU natural gas prices.
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