Northwood News ♦ February 2010

Comparing Utility Usage for Comparable Homes in North Four Corners

By Jacquie Bokow

Ever wonder how your energy usage compares to other homes in the neighborhood?  So did I.  I live in one of the 44 cooperative homes on Cavalier (see Northwood News, June 2003, page 2); since our homes are similar, I wanted to see how our electric, gas, and water use compared.  Three other co-op homeowners, plus another neighbor (“E”), agreed to share their bills with me.  Here are some details about each home:

DETAILS ON THE HOMES COMPARED

Home	No. of People	Furnace	Stove	Dryer	Water Heater	Day Temp.	Night Temp.
A (J.B.)	2A,1C	gas	electric	gas	gas	71°	65°
B (L.G.)	2A	gas	electric	electric	gas	75°	68°
C (K.D.)	2A,1C	gas	gas	electric	gas	68°	58°
D (M.L.)	2-3A	gas	electric	gas	gas	64°	63°
E (R.W.)	2A,2C	gas	gas	gas	gas	65°	68°

Remember, homes A-D are essentially the same.  (Home A is mine.)  In past articles, I’ve recounted the home energy audit we had and the process of having insulation squirted into the walls, a process the other co-op owners have not had done, but that Home E has.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (2007 data), the national average monthly electricity consumption was 936 kWh; in Maryland, it was 1,086 kWh.  We seem to be doing better than average, electricity-wise.  The bold data are the monthly highs; lows are underlined.  Get out your own bills and see where you stand!

2009 ELECTRICITY USAGE (in Kilowatt-Hours)

Bold = Monthly Highs, Underline = Monthly Lows

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
A	660	590	600	500	490	650	670	570	740	550	490	560
B	617	561	618	484	494	464	812	1,030	864	570	538	634
C	690	540	540	400	410	570	760	630	540	550	440	540
D	460	420	400	300	400	500	570	710	700	410	360	460
E	370	340	290	260	230	470	350	680	550	410	290	330
You:

2009 NATURAL GAS USAGE (in Therms)

Bold = Monthly Highs, Underline = Monthly Lows

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
A	88	115	95	57	43	20	21	13	14	16	35	56
B	161	209	163	98	72	20	8	9	9	8	64	100
C	135	189	146	79	50	13	10	9	4	10	34	71
D	115	151	113	53	32	13	10	10	10	11	26	59
E	196	260	156	94	65	23	13	13	12	21	64	102
You:

The American Gas Association states the average residential natural gas consumption (all U.S., also 2007 numbers) was 730 therms (73.0 MMBtu), which comes to about 61 per month (see next chart).

Here are the annual totals for electric and natural gas, plus a monthly average for natural gas usage.

ELECTRIC/GAS ANNUAL TOTALS

Totals	Annual Kilowatt-hours	Therms Annual	Therms Mo. Avg.
A	7,070	573	47.75
B	7,686	921	76.75
C	6,610	750	62.50
D	5,690	603	50.25
E	4,570	1,019	84.91
You:

Are our averages (mostly) lower because our older homes are smaller than newer ones?  Do we just conserve more?

So, how did your own usage compare?  I clearly need to work at saving electricity.   ■