Miscellaneous Energy Uses

Historically, residential energy saving efforts have targeted conventional end uses such as water heating, lighting and refrigeration. The emergence of new household appliances has transformed energy use from a few large and easily identifiable end uses into a broad array of "miscellaneous" energy services. Miscellaneous electricity is a diverse end use category which includes household appliances such as TVs, VCRs, waterbed heaters, and even electric toothbrushes.

Miscellaneous electricity accounts for about one fifth of residential electricity use, 235 billion kilowatt hours!, and for most of the projected growth in residential electricity use.

Typical Miscellaneous Electricity Uses in the Home
End Use Name Consumption (kilowatt-hours/year)
Auto Coffee Maker 116
Air Cleaner Electric, not mounted 55
Mounted Air Cleaner 500
Answering Machine 29
Air Corn Popper 6
Aquariums 548
Battery Charger 21
Blender 7
Boom Box 21
Electric Toothbrush 20
B & W TV 33
Can Opener 3
Compact Audio 94
Cable Boxes 114
Ceiling Fan 50
Clock 18
Color TV 141
Compactor 50
Copiers 25
Cordless Phone 25
Crankcase Heater 200
Curling Iron 1
Clotheswasher 102
Doorbell 18
Desk Fan 8
Deep Fryer 20
Dehumidifier 400
Garbage Disposer 10
Dishwasher 159
Electric Blankets 120
Evaporative Cooler 1184
Exhaust Fan 15
Espresso Maker 19
Auto Engine Heaters 250
Hand-Held Electric Vacuum 4
Fax Machine 326
Floor Fan 8
Video Games 24
Garage Door Opener 30
Automatic Griddles 5
Electric grill 180
Grow Lights 800
Halogen Lights 4
Waterbed Heaters 900
Hair Dryer 36
Whole House Fan 80
Hand Held Massager 0
Hand Mixers 2
Heating Pads 3
Hot Plate 30
Home radio, small/clock 18
Hair Setter 10
Humidifier 100
Instant Hot Water 160
Iron 53
Juicer 0
Electric Kettle 75
Central Vacuum 24
Torchiere Lamps 394
Laser Printer 113
Home Medical Equipment 400
Multi-fcn Device 41
Modem 12
Electric Lawn Mower 100
Men's Shaver 13
Microwave 144
Electric Knife 1
Hot Oil Corn Popper 2
Perc Coffee 65
Projection Color TV 234
Pool Pump 1500
Printer 20
Computers 156
Power Strip 3
RACK Audio System 81
Furnace Fan 500
Hand-Held Rechargeable 16
Satellite Earth Station 131
Security System 195
Stand Fan 8
Food Slicer 1
Slow Cooker 16
Stand Mixers 1
Spa/Hot Tub 2300
Sump/Sewage Pump 40
Heat Tape 100
Timer 18
Toaster 39
Toaster Oven 50
TV/VCR Combo 152
Vacuum 31
Video Cassette Recorder 58
Waffle Iron/Sandwich Grill 25
Bottled Water Dispenser 300
Well Pump 400
Window Fan 20
Women's Shaver 12
 
Source: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
End-Use Forecasting Group (1995)