The average American home uses 45 kilowatt hours per day; this one uses only 800 watt hours--and it doesn't sacrifice on much to get there. Consider that a typical desktop computer, not including the monitor, uses 80W, this home does well.
A few readers over at Treehugger are complaining because the stove and refrigerator are powered by LP, therefore not counted in the "watts" used, but nonetheless, it still has a Mac laptop, a 12V Widescreen LCD TV, a DVD player, and an efficient surround sound stereo system.
We would venture to say that home like this makes living "green" much more appealing to the masses.
Interesting, but please watch your units - it uses 800 watt hours per day, not 800 watts per day. Thank you!
view Taryn's profile
Thank you for catching my error! I've corrected it.
view kate's profile
Real Simple did an article on this about a year ago in their green issue. One of the things they suggested for the un-green masses was to unplg appliances when they were not in use (even the TV if I remember correctly) to cut back on use. They also said the "torch" lights (link below) were major energy guzzlers.
http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/ref=sc_pgc_r_9_0_273148011/601-4443036-3094550?ie=UTF8&frombrowse=1&asin=B000GRAICM
view MonsterMash's profile
My average electric bill is about 100 kWh/month (~$9, 3.3kWh/day) without any conscious conservation efforts. Gas heater, water heater & stove, no AC (not needed in oakland), no dishwasher or laundry. The average fridge alone is supposed to be around 100kW/month, so sure, put my fridge on LP like they did and it'd be no problem! But only 'cause I live in a small, cheap apartment, with lots of light-providing windows, in a temperate climate, and with a lot of energy use put on my gas bill instead of electric.
view erica's profile
MonsterMash: here in Belgium, things like TVs and stereo systems have proper 'off' (not standby) buttons - I wonder why manufacturers don't build these in for products they sell in North America?
We have a two-story, two-bedroom apartment of about 1300sq ft, and we use less than 175kwh/month - I can't even imagine what we'd have to switch on to be using 45kwh/day.
view devoir's profile
I'm using 4kwh/day in the summer here in Portland. 550 sq/ft, 1950's building. The only fancy thing I installed was a solatube. The big energy drain is that refridgerator. Things get spendy when you have blowers running for the heat and cooling systems.
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