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Energy and Buildings 40 (2008) 10531059 www.elsevier.com/locate/enbuild

Real-life energy use in the UK: How occupancy and dwelling characteristics affect domestic electricity use
Yigzaw G. Yohanis a,*, Jayanta D. Mondol a, Alan Wright a, Brian Norton b
a

School of the Built Environment, University of Ulster, Newtownabbey BT37 0QB, Northern Ireland, UK b Dublin Institute of Technology, Aungier Street, Dublin 1, Ireland Received 29 August 2006; received in revised form 7 September 2007; accepted 15 September 2007

Abstract The patterns of electricity consumption were studied for 27 representative dwellings in Northern Ireland. The type of dwelling, its location, ownership and size, household appliances, attributes of the occupants including number of occupants, income, age and occupancy patterns have differing but signicant impacts on electricity consumption. A clear correlation was found between average annual electricity consumption and oor area. The monthly consumption of detached houses is between 3.57 and 5.17 kWh m2; semi-detached between 3.44 and 4.59 kWh m2 and terraced houses between 2.5 and 3.9 kWh m2. The average winter consumption exceeded the average summer consumption by 1.59 kWh m2 for detached, by 1.16 kWh m2 for semi-detached and by 1.78 kWh m2 for terraced houses. The difference in the annual demand on the grid between detached and terraced houses is between 24 and 30%. The electricity consumption per person decreases as the number of occupants increases. This is particularly signicant in large dwellings but smaller numbers of occupants. # 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Household energy; Electricity consumption; Occupancy; Dwelling characteristics

1. Introduction Domestic energy consumption depends on the location, design and construction of a dwelling, and the specication of heating systems and their controls [1] together with the efciency of appliances [2] and the behaviour [313] and sociodemographical characteristics of occupants [8]. Total domestic energy consumption can be reduced by 1030% by changing occupants behaviour alone [4,8]. Residential energy consumption also depends on the composition and intensity of energy use [12]. Dwelling size, family size, climate, appliance ownership, lifestyle and behaviour dene tasks for which energy is used [12]. Therefore, the electrical energy demand of a household can vary each hour of every day, weekdays and weekends, and for different months of the year. The adoption of energy saving measures is determined largely by income [10]: a low-income consumer can invest only where the payback period is short; whereas a high-income consumer is able to accept longer payback periods. The number of occupants and their age inuences energy consumption, for example, households where

there are no children or where couples work consumes less energy than a household with children or older people [9]. In the UK it has been shown that energy consumption per person has increased by 18% between 1970 and 2000 [14]. In Northern Ireland, appliance use and its impact on electricity consumption [15] and overall electricity consumption have been studied [16]. As the results have been based on attitude survey investigations, they are therefore limited in their ability discern the complex correlations between dwelling characteristics, occupancy behaviour and electricity consumption. For this study, direct measurements were taken over a 20-month period in homes in diverse locations throughout Northern Ireland, encompassing a representative sample of types, ages and sizes of dwellings with occupants ranging in number, employment, income and ages. Over 200 homes were considered to establish a sample of 27 homes that would adequately represent the population in Northern Ireland. A supporting detailed survey of householders sought to obtain an understanding of appliance use and energy-related behaviour. 2. Selection of households

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +44 2890368025; fax: +44 2890368296. E-mail address: yg.yohanis@ulster.ac.uk (Y.G. Yohanis). 0378-7788/$ see front matter # 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2007.09.001

The 27 homes studied included city (53%), town (21%), village (13%) and country (13%) locations: 28% of homes were

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detached dwellings, 12% bungalows, 20% semi-detached homes and 26% terraced houses; the remaining 4% of homes were apartments. Thirteen percent of the homes were less than 15 years old, 25% between 15 and 30 years old, 33% between 30 and 60 years old and 29% of houses were over 60 years old. Seventeen percent of houses had one occupant, 25% had two occupants, 28% had three occupants, 17% had four occupants and 13% had ve or more than ve occupants. The daytime occupancy was as follows: 41% had no occupants, 27% had one occupant, 23% had two occupants and 9% had three occupants. Of primary occupants (i.e. those persons who were interviewed) 74% were employed, 17% were retired and 9% were unemployed. Furthermore, 52% of occupants (i.e. all occupants including primary occupants) were employed, 13% were retired, 4% were unemployed, 21% were children and 10% were in other category (students, home-makers, etc.). Household income varied from 13% earning less than 10,000 per annum, 13% earning between 10,000 and 20,000, 22% earning between 20,000 and 30,000 to 52% of householders combined total income exceeding 30,000. Six percent of primary occupants were younger than 30 years old, 60% between 31 and 50 years old, 28% between 51and 70 years old and the remaining 6% over 71 years old. Of all occupants 41% were less than 30 years of age, 36% between 31and 50 years of age, 18% between 51and 70 years of age and 5% of all occupants were older than 70 years old. In all the surveyed homes heating was provided by means of oil or natural gas red boilers. Although these boilers use electric powered burners, the electrical consumption of these burners is very small and has not been considered in the study. About 50% of the surveyed homes use supplementary electric heaters, and 76% have electric showers. The other installations in the surveyed houses which consume electricity are divided broadly into three categories: lighting, kitchen and entertainment. The lighting installations are as follows: 43% of households have halogen bulbs, 52% uorescent tubes and 95% standard bulbs (only 5% energy saving bulbs). The kitchens are as follows: all households use electric cookers, microwave ovens; 90% have washing machines; 10% washerdriers, 52%, tumble driers, 52% dishwashers. Each household has at least one fridge or fridge-freezer and 50% of the households have also separated freezers. In terms of entertainment each home has on average 2.7 TV sets, 1.5 video recorders, 1.4 DVD players, 1 stereo systems, 0.8 games consoles and 1 computer. 3. Electricity measurement Electricity measurements were made using a half-hour load meter installed in series with the normal utility meter in each home between December 2003 and February 2004. Each meter had a mobile telephone unit that enabled remote downloading of stored electricity average load in kW during half-hour periods once every month until the end of September 2005. Remote access software was used to connect with the mobile units within the metering system and data was downloaded via

modems; data thus collected was transferred to text format for analysis. The average electricity consumption was calculated by averaging consumption for each day of the year. Average, base and peak electricity consumptions were measured. Base-level use is electricity consumed when occupants are inactive, and peak use shows the consumption at times of greatest activity. 4. Household energy use and oor area Seasonal variations in monthly total electricity consumption were investigated. Where monthly data was available for more than 1 year, the values were averaged to present a single years data. A range of consumptions was observed in the monthly data; some homes consumed more than 800 kWh in a month, others never exceeded 200 kWh in any month. Winter electricity consumption was 2590% more than that of summer use. Dwellings in the UK can generally be divided into four types: detached, semi-detached, terraced and bungalows. Generally, detached, semi-detached and terraced houses are comprised of two oors; the lower oor comprises of kitchens and living areas and the upper oors, bedrooms and bathrooms. Bungalows have only one oor. Although these dwellings vary in size (i.e. oor area) and method of construction and nish, annual electricity consumption depends on size of dwelling in terms of total oor area. Generally householders ability to afford larger property (i.e. larger oor area) is linked to disposable income. The latter means that householders will have more electricity consuming appliances and use them more extensively. The oor areas of the houses represented in the study are as follows: <90 m2, 40.7%; 90115 m2, 29.6%; 116 165 m2, 18.5%; and >165 m2, 11.1%. Fig. 1 shows average annual electricity consumption for these houses as a function of oor area. The gure clearly shows the dependence of electricity consumption on oor area; this can be represented in the correlation in Eq. (1) E 49A 233 (1)

where E is average annual energy consumption (kWh) and A is oor area (m2).

Fig. 1. Annual total electricity consumption as a function of oor area.

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4.1. Monthly household energy use Monthly electricity consumption normalised with respect to oor area for detached houses and bungalows is shown in Fig. 2a. Similar investigations were also carried out for semidetached and terraced houses. Monthly consumption for detached houses varies between 2.0 and 7.0 kWh m2 and for the majority of the houses the maximum consumption is about 5 kWh m2. For semi-detached houses, monthly consumption varies between 2.0 and 5.0 kWh m2 and for the majority of terraced houses the variation is between 1.0 and 4.5 kWh m2. The variation in the average consumption for each type of houses is between 2.5 and 5.0 kWh m2. This indicates the average consumption on a per m2 basis is the same irrespective of the type of house under consideration. For one detached household in the study, the monthly consumption varies between 7.0 and 13.0 kWh m2. This household is owned by a single male but with lodgers who are post-graduate university students. Whilst oil-based heating is centrally controlled by the landlord, each lodger (who may be from a hot climate background) may keep an electric heater in their bedroom. Electricity consumption for cooking is also high as each lodger uses the kitchen separately. The consumption of this household is approximately two to three times that of a typical household. This household is not considered typical. The average monthly consumption for each type of house is shown in Fig. 2b. The average winter consumption exceeded

Fig. 3. Average monthly consumption for each month in 2004 and 2005.

the average summer consumption by 1.59 kWh m2 for detached houses, 1.16 kWh m2 for semi-detached houses and 1.78 kWh m2 for terraced houses. The monthly variation for the average of all types of houses was 1.34 kWh m2. The monthly consumption of detached houses varied between 3.57 and 5.17 kWh m2; semi-detached houses between 3.44 and 4.59 kWh m2 and terraced houses between 2.5 and 3.9 kWh m2. The difference in the demand on the grid between an average detached house and average terraced house in winter was 24% and in summer 30%. Whilst the ideal from the grids point of view is a constant load throughout the year, it is inevitable that the summer load is smaller due to increased daylight and heat and householders spending more time away on vacation or outdoors (e.g. walking, barbecuing, etc.). 4.2. Impact of changing household appliances on electricity use Monthly average consumptions for 2004 and 2005 are shown in Fig. 3. In 2005, 52% of the households involved in the study changed one household appliance (e.g. washing machine, freezer, etc.) to a more energy efcient type (i.e. higher energy rating, typically at least A-rating). Consumption in 2005 was lower than in 2004 for all house types except semi-detached houses; the variation in specic consumption (in terms of oor area) between 2004 and 2005 being up to 7.5%. This level of reduction in household energy use is very signicant; however, from the overall research it is not clear whether the factor behind this reduction is the change to a more energy efcient appliance, it is quite possible that the discussion between the researchers and the householders may have been effective intervention by way of education; this issue needs further research. 4.3. The inuence of dwelling characteristics on household electricity use Investigation of the average daily annual electricity consumption per unit oor area shows that generally the load proles have very similar shapes for all houses in the study; though the magnitude vary. Interestingly, the peaks and minimum demands on the grid happen at the same times:

Fig. 2. Monthly electricity consumption normalized with respect to oor area for (a) detached houses and (b) average for all house types.

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Fig. 4. Average daily annual electricity consumption for (a) all house types per unit oor area, and (b) total consumption.

Fig. 5. Average daily annual electricity consumption per unit oor area as function of occupants (a) and daytime occupants (b).

the minimum load is during the night between 2.00 and 4.00 a.m. when most householders are sleeping; there is a minor peak between 6.00 and 9.00 a.m. when householders are preparing breakfast and taking showers and a major peak between 5.00 and 10.00 p.m. when householders are preparing dinner and relaxing; the maximum usage of lighting occurs during this time. Generally, there is a variation between the maximum and minimum loads on the electricity network of about 0.011 kWh m2. The average daily proles for the average detached, semi-detached and terraced houses shows that the variation between the three house types is small and the average 24-h proles are very similar (see Fig. 4a). However, in terms of total average load per house, there is signicant variation between the consumption of the three house types, especially at peak times (see Fig. 4b). Fig. 5a shows average daily annual electricity consumption per unit oor area for dwellings occupied by one, two, three or four or more occupants. The proles for all groups are similar except for those with single occupants: for the latter the consumption is almost the same from about 9.00 a.m. to mid-night with the minimum consumption occurring between 1.00 and 7.00 a.m. In these homes, the main load would be lighting (which stays on until bedtime), there two small peaks around lunch and dinnertime. The main occupants would be retired people who stay at home for most of the day. Households with four or more occupants consume

the largest amount of electricity. Between mid-night to 8.00 a.m. and 3.00 p.m. to mid-night. Households with two or three occupants have similar proles and the difference in consumption between them is small. They have two peak consumption periods: one between 7.00 and 9.00 a.m. and the other at dinnertime. In general, as the number of occupants increases, the evening peak from about 4.00 to 10.00 p.m. and the morning peak between 7.00 and 9.00 a.m. are more pronounced compared to consumption at other times indicating that occupants are out during the day. The gure also shows electricity consumption per unit oor area per occupant. On this basis, electricity consumption per person decreases as the number of occupants increases. This is particularly signicant in large dwellings as the number of occupants per dwelling get smaller. The daily variation in electricity consumption of occupied and unoccupied homes during the daytime is shown in Fig. 5b. Homes with no daytime occupants had higher average electricity consumption than those homes occupied during the day. Homes that were occupied during the day by unemployed or retired people had generally smaller energy consumption. The homes where all occupants worked or attended school during the day, had peak consumptions in the morning (prior to working hours) and in the evening. These homes also showed an increase in demand in the evenings. The most common cooking times are between 6.00 and 8.00 p.m.

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Fig. 7. Average daily annual electricity consumption as a function of total household income.

Fig. 6. Average daily annual electricity consumption per unit oor area as a function of number of bedrooms (a) and total consumption (b).

The average daily annual electricity consumption per unit oor area as a function of the number of bedrooms is shown in Fig. 6a. In general, the proles are very similar and the maximum variation is only 0.004 kWh m2 over a 24-h period. Total daily annual electricity consumption as a function of the number of bedrooms is shown in Fig. 6b. Again the proles are very similar with total consumption very much dependent on the number of bedrooms: the morning and evening peaks of ve-bedroom households is over three times more than that of two-bedroom households. The maximum variation in consumption of two-bedroom houses is 0.3 kWh, in three-bedroom houses 0.9 kWh, in four-bedroom houses 1.1 kWh and in vebedroom houses 1.3 kWh. The variation in the minimum consumptions indicates a higher level of base-level consumptions in households with more bedrooms. It is also clear that households with more bedrooms have more appliances and a larger consumption of electricity for lighting. As the number of bedrooms in general is an indication of household income, households with more bedrooms have generally a higher level of consumption. On the basis of the average daily annual electricity consumption per unit oor area per bedroom the variation in consumption by the different types of homes is very small showing again the signicance of the number of bedrooms and oor area in determining electricity consumption. The electricity consumption proles of households with a range of incomes are shown in Fig. 7. Larger income

households have a lower daytime occupancy and the daily pattern of consumption shows a larger variation in consumption between daytime and evening for large households. However, larger income households commonly have a greater number of occupants and larger homes, compared with low-income households, often comprised of single individuals, retired or unemployed. The electricity consumption patterns show households with large incomes (over 30,000 per annum) using two and a half times as much electricity on average in the evenings compared with low-income households (less than 10,000 per annum). The electricity consumption of lowincome households slowly increases from a nighttime minimum to twice that value around 8.00 a.m. Then it is constant until about mid-night except for peak consumption around dinnertime. By contrast, the consumption of highincome households has two-peaks: a minor one around 7.00 a.m. and a major one starting from about 6.00 p.m. The duration of the major-peak is from 6.00 to 10.00 p.m. The consumption during the rest of the day is constant and approximately 1.5 times larger than that of low-income households. In general, income has a very important impact on consumption as it not only determines the type and range of household appliance used but also determines energy behaviour. Daily proles for average electricity consumption per square metre oor area are shown for a range of ages of the primary occupant in Fig. 8. The primary occupant dictates the household behaviour and has an inuence on consumption. Householders over the age of 65 usually occupy the home during daytime hours and have a low overnight consumption. Young householders (under 40) tend to have active evening homes but low daytime consumption. Middle-aged householders often have complete families, and having earned money over a signicant time-period, householders in the 5065 age bracket often have large homes and a broad range of appliances. These factors combine to show that evening consumption in homes with primary occupants between 50 and 65 have twice the evening electricity consumption of older occupants. Between about 11.00 p.m. through the night and up to about 6.00 a.m. the consumption proles of all houses is similar and only different in magnitude. Throughout the day and evening

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Fig. 8. Average daily annual electricity consumption as a function of age of primary occupant.

Fig. 10. Comparison of average daily annual electricity consumption for owned and rented homes.

Fig. 9. Average daily annual electricity consumption as a function of location.

equipment consuming reduced electrical power whilst in an unused state. To give an estimate of the base-level consumption, a single value was calculated every 2 days that corresponded to that half-hour when the least electricity was consumed. An average base-level consumption value was therefore dened using 300 values, each corresponding to minimum use in a 2day period. Fig. 11 shows the average daily base-level electricity consumption correlated with average daily consumption. For each month an average hourly consumption level is given. Base-level consumption ranged from 0.01 to 0.25 kWh. The majority of homes showed a small increase in base-level electricity consumption in the summer. This is due to the increased requirement of cold appliances. 5.1. Peak electricity consumption

5065 year-olds consume the largest amount of electricity and the more than 65 year-olds the smallest. This is signicant as the 5065 bracket includes those with higher household incomes and those living in large house. Fig. 9 compares the energy consumption of city, town, village and isolated rural homes. Location did not have a signicant inuence on the majority of daily proles, as commuting to work is common and a range of families lived in all locations. The one exception was the high daytime demand of homes located in the country. Many such isolated rural homes are farms, which are both active businesses and homes occupied during the morning and afternoon. The impact of ownership on electricity use is shown in Fig. 10. In Northern Ireland the majority of social housing is rented by lower income families from the Northern Ireland Housing Executive. Houses that were owned privately show a demand prole that was over 100% greater than that of rented homes in the evenings and 60% greater throughout the rest of the day. 5. Household base-level electricity consumption Base-level electricity consumption has two components, the necessary constant use of appliances such as fridges and freezers, and the losses due to appliances on stand-by. Stand-by losses include computers, televisions, cookers and other

The combination of the magnitude and time of peak electricity consumption has a signicant impact on the network capacity required. The peak average consumption for each home was determined by calculating the peak consumption in each day and then averaging over the 600 days investigated. Sixty percent of homes use 50100% more electricity at peak times of the day than the average daily consumption and 34% of homes use more than 100% at peak times. As these peak values

Fig. 11. Average daily base-level consumption correlated with average daily consumption.

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entertainment systems, and later meals, peak electrical demand is higher and is shifting to later night. Given these trend, there is a strong policy imperative to encourage the use of the most energy efcient appliances and home entertainment systems to reduce poor electricity generation plant utilisation. Acknowledgement This study was supported by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive and NIE plc. References
Fig. 12. The average domestic usage pattern for the studied homes compared with the electricity utilitys average load prole [15]. [1] F. Moore, Environmental Control Systems, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1993. [2] I. Mansouri, M. Newborough, D. Probert, Energy consumption in UK households: impact of domestic electrical appliances, Applied Energy 54 (3) (1996) 211285. [3] G. Hitchcock, An integrated framework for energy use and behaviour in the domestic sector, Energy and Buildings 20 (1993) 151157. [4] C. Palmborg, Social habits and energy consumption in single-family homes, Energy 11 (7) (1986) 643650. [5] J. Owens, H. Wilhite, Household energy behaviour in Nordic countries an unrealised energy saving potential, Energy 13 (12) (1988) 853859. [6] C. Seligman, J.M. Darley, L. Becker, Behavioural approached to residential energy conservation, Energy and Buildings 1 (1977) 325337. [7] J.J. Cordes, Socio-economic perspective on household saving behaviour, The Journal of Behavioural Economics 19 (3) (1990) 273284. [8] C. Mullaly, Home energy use behaviour: a necessary component of successful local government home energy conservation (LGHEC) programs, Energy Policy 26 (14) (1998) 10411052. [9] T.M.M. Verhallen, W.F.V. Raaij, Household behaviour and the use of natural gas for home heating, Journal of Consumer Research 8 (1981) 253257. [10] W.H. Cunningham, B. Joseph, Energy conservation, price increase and payback periods, Advances in Consumer Research 5 (1) (1978) 201205. [11] W. Baxter, S.L. Feldman, A.P. Schinnar, R.M. Wirtshafter, An efciency analysis of household energy use, Energy Economics 8 (2) (1986) 6272. [12] L. Schipper, A. Ketoff, S. Meyers, International residential energy demand use data: analysis of historical and present day structure and dynamics, Energy 7 (2) (1982) 205212. [13] R. Zmeureanu, M. Marceau, Evaluating energy impact of peoples behaviour in a house: case study, Journal of Architectural Engineering 5 (3) (1999) 99102. [14] DTI, Energy Consumption in the UK, Department of Trade and Industry, The Stationary Ofce, UK, 2002. [15] M. Brown, Quantitative energy efciency, Millward Brown Ulster, Northern Ireland Electricity and the Energy Saving Trust (2002). [16] HECR, Seventh Annual progress Report on the Home Energy Consumption Strategy for Northern Ireland, Home Energy Conservation Report, 2003. [17] NIE, Electricity consumption in Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Electricity, 2005.

are average daily peaks, instantaneous peak values might be larger. The times of day at which the peak electricity consumption occurs for all the surveyed homes is described as follows: dinnertime (between 4.30 p.m. and 6.30 p.m.) has traditionally been the predominant time of peak electricity use in homes; however, almost a quarter of the surveyed homes had their peak energy use between 9.00 p.m. and 12.00 a.m. Although many homes now tend to eat meals later in the evening than previously, in many cases the new trend is due to increase in the use of televisions and computers, and the use of electric showers at night. All of the homes that had peak energy use between 7.00 and 9.30 a.m. had electric showers, which is likely to be the dominant appliance in their daily electricity use. The total peak load on the network has not increased, but the spread of time over which household demands peak is wider than the typical 2002 demand load curve of the supply network [17] as shown in Fig. 12. 6. Conclusion In a detailed study of a representative sample of 27 dwellings in Northern Ireland a strong correlation was found between average annual electricity consumption and oor area. More oor area is obviously affordable to those with higher incomes and leads to greater electricity use. However, the pattern of this use is also different between income groups with the evening demand prole for those with higher incomes is 100% larger even though the daily prole is 60% larger. Knowing the time and size of peak electricity load is crucial to electrical grid planning. There is evidence in this study that the characteristics of the peak load are changing. With more intense use of home