Residential energy usage comparison project: An overview

Technical Report · Mon Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1990

OSTI ID:6496847

Smith, B A; Uhlaner, R T; Cason, T N ^[1]

---

1. Quantum Consulting, Inc., Berkeley, CA (USA)

This report provides an overveiw of the residential energy usage comparison project, an integrated load and market research project sponsored by EPRI and the Southern California Edison Company. Traditional studies of the relative energy consumption of electric and gas household appliances have relied on laboratory analyses and computer simulations. This project was designed to study the appliance energy consumption patterns of actual households. Ninety-two households in Orange County, California, southeast of Los Angeles, served as the study sample. Half of the households received new electric space-conditioning, water-heating, cooking, and clothes-drying equipment; the other half received gas equipment. The electric space-conditioning and water-heating appliances were heat pump technologies. All of the appliances were metered to collect load-shape and energy consumption data. The households were also surveyed periodically to obtain information on their energy needs and their acceptance of the appliances. The metered energy consumption data provide an important benchmark for comparing the energy consumption and costs of alternative end-use technologies. The customer research results provide new insights into customer preferences for fuel and appliance types. 15 figs., 3 tabs.

• Research Organization: Electric Power Research Inst., Palo Alto, CA (USA); Quantum Consulting, Inc., Berkeley, CA (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: EPRI
• OSTI ID: 6496847
• Report Number(s): EPRI-CU-6952
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
296000 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Electric Power
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
320106* -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- Building Equipment-- (1987-)
AIR CONDITIONING
APPLIANCES
CLOTHES DRYERS
CLOTHES WASHERS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
DATA ANALYSIS
DRYERS
ELECTRIC APPLIANCES
ENERGY CONSUMPTION
GAS APPLIANCES
GAS HEAT PUMPS
HEAT PUMPS
HEATERS
HOUSEHOLDS
OVENS
PEAK LOAD
RESIDENTIAL SECTOR
STOVES
WATER HEATERS