Hot water electric energy use in single-family residences in the Pacific Northwest

Abstract

Bonneville Power Administration carries out generation and conservation resource planning. The analysis of historical trends in and determinants of energy consumption is carried out by the office's End-Use Research Section. The End-Use Research Section operates a comprehensive data collection program to provide pertinent information to support demand-side conservation planning, load forecasting, and conservation program development and delivery. Part of this ongoing program, commonly known as the End-Use Load and Consumer Assessment Program (ELCAP), was recently renamed the Regional End-Use Metering Project (REMP) to reflect an emphasis on metering rather than analytical activities. REMP is designed to collect electricity usage data through direct monitoring of end-use loads in buildings in the residential and commercial sectors and is conducted for Bonneville by Pacific Northwest Laboratories (Battelle). The detailed summary information in this report is on energy used for water heaters in the residential sector and is based on data collected from September 1985 through December 1990 for 336 of the 499 REMP metered homes. Specific information is provided on annual loads averaged over the years and their variation across residences. Descriptions are given of use as associated with demographic and energy-related characteristics. Summaries are also provided for electricity use by each year, month, and daytype, as well as at peak hot water load and peak system times. This is the second residential report. The first report, Description of Electric Energy Use in Single-Family Residences in the Pacific Northwest (ELCAP) (1989), provides extensive background information on residential metering and serves as a sourcebook of summarized residential data for every end use metered. This second report focuses on a specific end use and adds detail to the first report. Subsequent reports are planned on other individual end uses or sets of end uses. Comments regarding the interpretation of the data presented, requests for additional useful data summaries, or requests for an electronic version of the data summaries should be directed to:

Energy data sourcebook for the US residential sector

“…Several different metered studies in the Pacific Northwest estimate per capita water use between 16.5 and 21.0 gallons per day. Measured data fi-om the BPA REM€' program (Taylor et al 1991) specifically gives electric water heating en'ergy use across number of occupants (see Figure 4.1). Assuming standby losses (energy use at zero usage) and a 77" F temperature rise, a quadratic fit through the kwh data allows the calculation of gallons for the level of occupancy.…”

Performance and economic evaluation of the seahorse natural gas hot water heater conversion at Fort Stewart. Interim report, 1994 Summer

“…There are no data on typical hot water usage in residences at Fort Stewart. However, typical electric hot water heater energy requirements for single-family residences in the Northwestern U.S. has been measured at approximately 4,800 k W y r (Taylor et al 1991).…”

Baseline data for the residential sector and development of a residential forecasting database

“…Several different metered studies in the Pacific Northwest estimate per capita water use between 16.5 and 21.0 gallons per day. Measured data from the BPA REMP program (Taylor et al 1991) specifically gives electric water heating energy use across number of occupants (see Figure 4.1). Assuming standby losses (energy use at zero usage) and a 77 F temperature rise, a quadratic fit through the kWh data allows the calculation of gallons for the level ofoccupancy.…”