Household Energy Use: Where Does the Money Go?

According to Energy Star, the average American household spends a whopping $1900 a year on energy.

Let’s take a look at where that energy flows by function.

Energy Star is a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Energy program, which aims to help us save money and protect our environment through energy efficient products and practices.

I found an on-line brochure from Energy Star that detailed where the average American household’s energy gets used. They broke energy-use down into these categories: Dishwasher, Refrigerator, Clothes Washer & Dryer, Lighting, Water Heater, Electronics, Other, Heating and Cooling. A simple pie-chart illustrates the relative quantities, and makes it crystal clear that heating and cooling are our biggest expenditures, energy-wise.

Since energy is a flowing entity, I like to look at these kind of statistics using a Sankey Diagram. A Sankey diagram shows how flows break down into components.

Here is the Household Energy Use data from Energy Star, presented as a Sankey Diagram:

It’s pretty clear that the biggest targets for saving money and resources involve heating and cooling. Maybe we can buy a few cashmere sweaters with the money we save by turning the thermostat down!

If you like the way Sankey Diagrams present data, I recommend checking out: Sankey-Diagrams.com.  Phineas, who runs the site, is absolutely passionate about Sankey diagrams, and his enthusiasm can be infectious.

While looking for data on home energy use, I ran across some other interesting, odd and interactive data visualization that you might find interesting or at least entertaining: