American Energy Consumption And My Personal Use Pattern

Air conditioning boosts summertime energy consumption two thirds higher than wintertime consumption.

Alan: I live in central North Carolina where ambient temperature from mid-June through mid-August is as oppressive as anywhere I've lived - Mexico, Nicaragua, Colombia.

Yesterday, while walking from the parking lot to a Home Depot entrance, I was struck - as I often am -- by how many people sit in running vehicles, windows up, air conditioning "on" while a companion is in the store shopping.

My family of four owns four cars and "the neighborhood pickup truck."

None of these vehicles has functioning air-conditioning and none of us feel "deprived."

Instead, we employ the time-tested technology of "open windows."

During the "dog days of summer" -- perhaps a dozen times a year -- I will run my AC for a couple of hours from mid- to late afternoon, putting the thermostat at 84 degrees.

My Duke Power bill comes with a monthly chart  that compares the energy consumption of "My Home" with the energy consumption of an "Average Home" and an "Efficient Home."

My July "energy consumption numbers" were 15.68% of an "Average Home" and 20.2% of an "Energy Efficient Home."

Viewed from another vantage, an "Average Home" uses 6.41 times more energy than "My Home," and an "Energy Efficient Home" uses 4.95 times as much energy as my own.

Notably, I do not consider myself "inconvenienced" or "deprived."

Rather, I am keenly aware that I live an extraordinarily comfortable life and that, by global standards, I remain an energy hog.

(I am working on a document filled with money saving - and resource saving - strategies. Its working title is "Independently Poor: Thriving Through Thrift.")