Control the Change

In the June 3rd, 2008 Toronto Star, there was an interesting article on conservation; it commented on how Ontario’s electricity usage drop by 2.6% overall and 4.6% on a personal basis between the years of 2005 through 2007. The article We’ve cut electricity use 4.6%, suggests that though it maybe slow, overall Ontarians are getting the message about energy conversation (whether it’s the message itself or due to other causes, isn’t really that clear; but it’s a good sign nonetheless).

It is interesting thought to see the average individual’s annual electricity usage is 11,725Kwh; that seems like a lot, when all I have to personally compare it against is my own household’s usage (was about 4800Kwh in 2007 and about the same in 2006; this is even more interesting when you look at it from the vantage point that the 4800Kwh is for two people and not just me).

So, where and how do we use all that power (and what did I do to have a personal usage of about 2400 Kwh/annum (or about 1/5th that of the average person here))?

Do I live less well than others?
Do I live in the dark, in a cave or something “weird”?

To those questions, I answer “no”; I do though not own or have a car, so I choose to take public transit or walk most of the time to get groceries or go to work. But I can’t see that as being the major change.
So what is it? I think it’s living with less stuff actually (though we have two computers, one being a laptop) and using what we have less; we don’t leave lights on when not in the room, we have many devices on powerbars and also on digital timers (our TV is one area that we control power usage well) so they can be easily turned off when not in use. The two biggest electricity using appliances in our house are 1) the fridge (uses about 580Kwh/yr) and 2) the computers (including printers, external harddrives, et al.; which use combined about 450Kwh); each uses about 1/4 to 1/5 of the entire household power over the space of the year.
Could my household be better, yes; but we also have looked at what we use and either consciously or unconsciously decided to turn items off and/or live without the latest and greatest item. Also, and this is a big one, we don’t have an air-conditioner to boost the amount of electricity we use; instead, we have ceiling fans and were needed, some floor ones as well. We also get used to the heat or cold and layer as needed. There have been some improvements made to help with our comfort, but those only play a minor part in the actual electricity usage around the house. Most of the improvements impact on the natural gas used to heat the house in winter and reduce heat loss/gain in the colder/warmer months (improvements like air sealing and added insulation in the attic; both done by GreenSaver).

If you live in Ontario, look at how you use electricity, and first congratulate yourself in the savings you’ve helped the province make in the past two years; secondly, look at where you can try harder and if you’re not doing as well with some part of it, maybe I can offer a suggestion or two to help you along.