You may have noticed that your household pays more for electricity than you did few years ago. Though, more households – including yours – may have replaced halogen bulbs with energy-saving bulbs, yet you still have to pay more in electricity bill. What exactly are the reasons? Below is the breakdown of energy use for the average household.
In 2005, the average household used 13.6kwh a day; enough to boil 101 kettles of water. While in 2014, energy usage reduced to 11kwh a day; enough to boil 80 kettles of water. Hence, in little less than a decade, electricity usage per household fell by 4%.
But since the year 2000, the amount of devices and appliances owned have increased as more people could afford such modern comforts like washing machines and dryers, TVs, mobile phones and laptops. And in similar vein, appliances have also within this time period become more efficient as modern fridges now use 47% less electricity; freezers, 53% less electricity; and washers, 43% less electricity.
In all, 31% less energy has been expended on lighting. In 2000, 473 million halogen bulbs and 29 million energy-saving bulbs were in use; and by 2014, only 28 million halogen bulbs and 400 million energy-saving bulbs were in use. Also, the amount of gas used in cooking has fallen by 30% from 4m³ in 2004 to 2.5m³ in 2014.
Overall, 26% less energy have been used in homes between 2000 and 2014. But then comes the question, why do we have to pay more for energy?
This is due in part to the fact that more money now has to be spent to convert sources of energy from their raw form to the finished product that we use. There’s also the fact that there’s been an increase in population within this time period, which then makes it necessary to build more facilities to cater for this increase, and for which money is needed.
Though the situation is somewhat more complex than this, but they still contribute to the reasons why your household’s energy bills have increased as you must have observed.
