Electric space heating systems and appliances like water heaters can help American homeowners reduce their energy use, and possibly their utility bills, according to a team led by researchers at Penn State.
Electric space heating systems and appliances like water heaters can help American homeowners reduce their energy use, and possibly their utility bills, according to a team led by researchers at Penn State.
The researchers set out to identify the most important factors driving U.S. on-site residential energy consumption, which the team said accounts for approximately 21% of primary energy consumption in the country and is more complex than commercial energy use. They found that electric heating systems like heat pumps, compared to systems that rely on natural gas and oil, had the largest impact on reducing on-site energy usage at the national and state levels. Switching to energy-efficient electric appliances could also help homeowners reduce their energy consumption, the team reported in the journal Energy Policy.
“The most surprising finding was that homes relying on natural gas for space heating were using more on-site energy compared to electric homes,” said co-author Rahman Azari, associate professor of architecture at Penn State. “But it makes sense because it’s an issue of heating system efficiency as well as the efficiency of appliances, and electric appliances tend to be more efficient than natural gas appliances.”
Read more at: Penn State University
