Is the electricity we spend really that much?

I don't know if this is the best place for what I want, but here goes.

I noticed that we ear and see in the news many people talking about the amount of energy that is used everyday, especially in the "Western" world.

Are the common people really responsible for a great percentage of energy spent in those countries?

I decided to try to get some idea of the truth behind this by asking how much electricity do ATS members used last month and how many people live in that house.

In my case we spent around 400KW, now I can not find an accurate number, and we are only 3 people in an apartment.

Anyone wants to contribute to this with hes/hers informations?

One house, 2 floors + finished basement, and central air conditioning. 4 people live here we have 3 computers, 5 televisions, 5 fish tanks (about 300 gallons total), and a 20k gallon pool.

Hot water and dryer are natural gas.

Summertime monthly energy usage is about 2500 KWh and winter is about 1000 KWh.

Jon

im sure that we are being cheated out of money and energy. So id like to believe, in a democratic socialism society, where the gov cared about the ppl and not have the corporations run the show. Everything would cost alittle less. but With Humans come greed and in the end we are all #ed payin way too much for stuff anyway. but yeah rock on with the post.

Originally posted by Forsaken Druid
im sure that we are being cheated out of money and energy.

I was not even thinking of the price, but of those situations when someone appears on the news saying that, for example, oil prices will go up or down because of bigger or smaller need caused by domestic use if electricity.

As I could see with Voxel's post, a house with central air conditioning really uses much electricity, and apparently more in the Summer. If this is really a good example of a typical electricity user on "Western hemisphere" then we can get some idea about the truth of what they say.

I forgot to say that we use natural gas for hot water and cooking (thanks Voxel).

Originally posted by Forsaken Druid
im sure that we are being cheated out of money and energy. So id like to believe, in a democratic socialism society, where the gov cared about the ppl and not have the corporations run the show. Everything would cost alittle less. but With Humans come greed and in the end we are all ----- payin way too much for stuff anyway. but yeah rock on with the post.

Unfortunitly the real world is not as the Socialist see it. It would cost more to the average person who conserves in this type of enviroment since you would be paying to the collective pot rather then for your own energy consuption. It would also encourage enviromental damage, wasteful energy use, and ultimately cost society more.

Capitalism is not perfect, with greed and everything, but i feel that in the deregulated market people are being encouraged with higher prices to conserve. Yes it may be a burden on the pocket book, but it encourages efficency, moderation, and technological advancement. People demand energy efficent devices, they turn off lights, and generally are more aware of where their energy comes from then ever before. Here in Alberta, people have the option of paying a few extra cents per kilowatt hour (to enmax if anyones interested) to buy "green" power form wind turbines. This extra money in the company's bottom line enourages it to invest more in wind energy to increase profits.

To sum up, yes we are paying more for energy now, but its not because the corperations are "evil". A deregulated market is still better then governemnt controlled any day. It encourages energy conservation. Energy costs are going up due to fossel fuel costs, not due to corperate greed.

Originally posted by DSO
To sum up, yes we are paying more for energy now, but its not because the corperations are "evil". A deregulated market is still better then governemnt controlled any day. It encourages energy conservation. Energy costs are going up due to fossel fuel costs, not due to corperate greed.

That is one of the things I am trying to learn here, are we (the domestic consumers) really consuming that much?

For the moment I am not concerned with the evilness of the corporations, the advantages or disadvantages of Capitalism or the price of electricity, I only want to know if we really spend that much.

I'm not sure how much energy we use, but I'm pretty sure that industry uses a lot more and they pay less than a personal consumer. I think that when they talk about how much energy the 'western world' uses, business and industry are included.

Where I am, the government will buy any extra energy that a company produces privately (mines, saw mills, etc.). The government actually pays them more for their extra power than they charge them for it. Then we all sit around wondering why our electric bills go up.

I would tell you how much I use, but it is included in my rent and I don't get the bill.