Language selection

Government of Canada / Gouvernement du Canada

Search

The effect of household characteristics on total and peak electricity use in summer

From National Research Council Canada

Download
  1. (PDF, 650 KiB)
AuthorSearch for: 1; Search for: ; Search for:
Affiliation
  1. National Research Council of Canada. NRC Institute for Research in Construction
FormatText, Article
SubjectResidential, peak demand, socio-economic, Canada; Office lighting
Abstract
We analyzed hourly electricity use data from households in southern Ontario, Canada (N=284) for which we also had survey data on some household characteristics. Dependent variables were total annual electricity use, summer use, summer use during on-peak hours defined by the local time-of-use tariff, use during the 1% of highest systemwide demand hours in summer, and the correlation between household demand and systemwide demand during summer. Results show, as expected, that larger houses with more occupants tend to use more electricity during all periods. However, in the very highest demand periods in the summer, ownership of a central air conditioner is the most important predictor of energy use. This suggests that utilities wishing to reduce systemwide peak usage should focus their summer demandreduction programs on houses with central air conditioners. The impending roll-out of advanced metering in North America will facilitate this kind of analysis in many other jurisdictions in the future.
Publication date
In
  • Energy Studies Review 18, no. 1 (1 February 2011): 20–33.
LanguageEnglish
Peer reviewedYes
NRC numberNRCC 51248
NRC-IRC-22093
NPARC number20374311
Export citationExport as RIS
Report a correctionReport a correction (opens in a new tab)
Record identifier11170364-58b7-4a2b-b3e5-3e09541d8da3
Record created2012-07-23
Record modified2020-04-21
Date modified: