Household Energy Use to Triple by 2030, Due to Power-Hungry Electronics

May 19th, 2009 by Jeff Kart

Experts call energy efficiency the low-hanging fruit, because it’s cheaper to cut power use than create new energy from fossil fuels like coal.

But our creature comforts — like iPods, cell phones, PCs and plasma TVs — are sucking the life out of advances in energy efficiency around the world, the International Energy Agency says.

In other words, too much fruit is rotting on the vine.

The IEA says in a new “Gigawatts and Gadgets” report that electricity consumption from power-hungry electronics could cause household energy use to triple by 2030. That means increased greenhouse gases from electric generation, and increased electric bills for creating that power.

The agency is urging consumers to choose more power-sipping devices when they go shopping. Technology allows trendy gadgets to be up to 40 percent more energy efficient, but standards are lacking.

It used to be that refrigerators and other appliances used the most electricity in our homes. If you go to buy a new fridge, you’ll see tags that show “estimated energy use per year.”

Our digital gadgets have now surpassed the electric use of “white goods” like refrigerators, Reuters reports.

What to do? Before you go shopping, check out some online guides to greener gadgets:

Keep up to date with all the hottest cleantech news by subscribing to our (free) cleantech newsletter, or keep an eye on sector-specific news by getting our (also free) solar energy newsletter, electric vehicle newsletter, or wind energy newsletter.

Tags: Energy, gadgets, Global Weirding, IEA

About the Author

Jeff Kart is typing about issues in the Great Lakes, from advanced biofuels to zero-emission vehicles. Jeff is an environmental journalist and social media evangelist based in Michigan, where the summers are short, the winters are cold, and the stories are plentiful.

http://www.netzeroenergy.org Mark Bartosik

Just do the math…

Wired smoke detectors (required by code for new US construction) can use between 0.5W and 12.3W, you can easily have 6 of these in an average house.

12.3W x 6 x 24 x 365 = 646KWh per year.

My large 25 cubic foot fridge freezer only uses about 500KWh per year.

The problem is the 24×365 always connected devices, and the number of device, and the cheapo manufacturing.

Please read this:

http://www.netzeroenergy.org/energyguide.pdf
http://www.netzeroenergy.org Mark Bartosik

Just do the math…

Wired smoke detectors (required by code for new US construction) can use between 0.5W and 12.3W, you can easily have 6 of these in an average house.

12.3W x 6 x 24 x 365 = 646KWh per year.

My large 25 cubic foot fridge freezer only uses about 500KWh per year.

The problem is the 24×365 always connected devices, and the number of device, and the cheapo manufacturing.

Please read this:

http://www.netzeroenergy.org/energyguide.pdf
http://www.netzeroenergy.org Mark Bartosik

Just do the math…

Wired smoke detectors (required by code for new US construction) can use between 0.5W and 12.3W, you can easily have 6 of these in an average house.

12.3W x 6 x 24 x 365 = 646KWh per year.

My large 25 cubic foot fridge freezer only uses about 500KWh per year.

The problem is the 24×365 always connected devices, and the number of device, and the cheapo manufacturing.

Please read this:

http://www.netzeroenergy.org/energyguide.pdf
http://www.netzeroenergy.org Mark Bartosik

Just do the math…

Wired smoke detectors (required by code for new US construction) can use between 0.5W and 12.3W, you can easily have 6 of these in an average house.

12.3W x 6 x 24 x 365 = 646KWh per year.

My large 25 cubic foot fridge freezer only uses about 500KWh per year.

The problem is the 24×365 always connected devices, and the number of device, and the cheapo manufacturing.

Please read this:

http://www.netzeroenergy.org/energyguide.pdf
http://www.fifthonmain.com/ marc

Buying yourself a gift or for someone dear to you on his or her special day like graduation or birthdays? You could spend time looking for a perfect gift in the mall. Malls have many different boutiques and stalls you could visit to. They got so many varieties of their items to choose from. Also, don’t forget to watch out for those boutiques or stalls who are on sale of their items. You could save up to 75% off, a lot of saving though!
http://www.fifthonmain.com/ marc

Buying yourself a gift or for someone dear to you on his or her special day like graduation or birthdays? You could spend time looking for a perfect gift in the mall. Malls have many different boutiques and stalls you could visit to. They got so many varieties of their items to choose from. Also, don’t forget to watch out for those boutiques or stalls who are on sale of their items. You could save up to 75% off, a lot of saving though!
http://www.fifthonmain.com/ marc

Buying yourself a gift or for someone dear to you on his or her special day like graduation or birthdays? You could spend time looking for a perfect gift in the mall. Malls have many different boutiques and stalls you could visit to. They got so many varieties of their items to choose from. Also, don’t forget to watch out for those boutiques or stalls who are on sale of their items. You could save up to 75% off, a lot of saving though!
http://www.fifthonmain.com/ marc

Buying yourself a gift or for someone dear to you on his or her special day like graduation or birthdays? You could spend time looking for a perfect gift in the mall. Malls have many different boutiques and stalls you could visit to. They got so many varieties of their items to choose from. Also, don’t forget to watch out for those boutiques or stalls who are on sale of their items. You could save up to 75% off, a lot of saving though!
http://jeffkart.com jef

ekdog:

i think that, collectively, it’s true that gadgets are causing a spike in electricity usage.
http://jeffkart.com jef

ekdog:

i think that, collectively, it’s true that gadgets are causing a spike in electricity usage.
http://jeffkart.com jef

ekdog:

i think that, collectively, it’s true that gadgets are causing a spike in electricity usage.
http://jeffkart.com jef

ekdog:

i think that, collectively, it’s true that gadgets are causing a spike in electricity usage.
Ekdog

I find it hard to believe that small devices like i-Pods and cell phones “are sucking the life out of advances in energy efficiency around the world…”.
Ekdog

I find it hard to believe that small devices like i-Pods and cell phones “are sucking the life out of advances in energy efficiency around the world…”.
Ekdog

I find it hard to believe that small devices like i-Pods and cell phones “are sucking the life out of advances in energy efficiency around the world…”.
Ekdog

I find it hard to believe that small devices like i-Pods and cell phones “are sucking the life out of advances in energy efficiency around the world…”.
Will

This simply reaffirms the fact that we need to be more conscientious about our energy consumption. Even if use of electricity-consuming gadgets – cellphones, ipods, etc. – continues to increase, we can at least soften the impact by increasing energy efficiency, in the gadgets themselves and in other parts of the home. Something as simple as a smart power strip – existing, readily available technology – can go a long way towards reducing the impact (economic as well as environmental) of household electronics. http://www.energycircle.com has a great video about how smartstrips work by combating vampire power.
Will

This simply reaffirms the fact that we need to be more conscientious about our energy consumption. Even if use of electricity-consuming gadgets – cellphones, ipods, etc. – continues to increase, we can at least soften the impact by increasing energy efficiency, in the gadgets themselves and in other parts of the home. Something as simple as a smart power strip – existing, readily available technology – can go a long way towards reducing the impact (economic as well as environmental) of household electronics. http://www.energycircle.com has a great video about how smartstrips work by combating vampire power.
Will

This simply reaffirms the fact that we need to be more conscientious about our energy consumption. Even if use of electricity-consuming gadgets – cellphones, ipods, etc. – continues to increase, we can at least soften the impact by increasing energy efficiency, in the gadgets themselves and in other parts of the home. Something as simple as a smart power strip – existing, readily available technology – can go a long way towards reducing the impact (economic as well as environmental) of household electronics. http://www.energycircle.com has a great video about how smartstrips work by combating vampire power.
Will

This simply reaffirms the fact that we need to be more conscientious about our energy consumption. Even if use of electricity-consuming gadgets – cellphones, ipods, etc. – continues to increase, we can at least soften the impact by increasing energy efficiency, in the gadgets themselves and in other parts of the home. Something as simple as a smart power strip – existing, readily available technology – can go a long way towards reducing the impact (economic as well as environmental) of household electronics. http://www.energycircle.com has a great video about how smartstrips work by combating vampire power.