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Electric plug loads keep growing

A recent survey from Energy Business Intelligence reports that "Electric Plug Loads Keep On Growing."

Key findings include that electronic plug loads are the fastest-growing category of household energy use. Research indicates that the annual energy use of plug loads varies from about 15 to 20 percent of residential electricity use, and may comprise 29 percent of household energy use by 2030.

The number of electronic plug loads in U.S. households is an important component of the growth in electricity demand. According to the survey results, one in five households has three or more cell phones, and one in 25 has three or more liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs. In addition, 54 percent of households has a flat-screen TV (either LCD or plasma) and 13 percent has three or more computers (either laptop or desktop).

The survey results also indicate that age, number of household members and income are important predictors of the number of plug loads in residential households. The number of plug loads in homes rises substantially with income and household size, and senior-citizen households have about half the number of electronic plug loads in their homes as heads-of-household in their thirties and early forties do. The survey also identified differences in plug load saturation based on region.

Written By: jzweiacker
Date Posted: 8/24/2010
Number of Views: 189

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