WHAT CONTRIBUTES TO KWH USAGE?
So, you know your home’s regular kWh usage is key to gaining energy independence. That said, multiple factors influence the average home kWh per day, month and year. Here are just a few of them:
- Your home’s square footage
- Where you live (e.g., regional climate)
- How much energy your household regularly uses (e.g., heating and cooling, major appliances, electronics)
- How many people live in the house
- How well your house is insulated
It’s a lot to take in. To give you a general idea, we’ll look at the average home kWh per day and month according to various square footages. As always, it’s smart to speak with an energy consultant to get the most accurate answers for your home!
But first, what’s a kWh, and what counts as an “average house”?
WHAT ARE KWH, AND WHY DOES THE NUMBER MATTER?
A kilowatt (kW) measures electrical power, whereas a kWh measures how many kWs a device uses in one hour. You often see watt (W), watt-hour (Wh), kW and kWh numbers on appliance labels and utility bills.
Determining a whole home’s kWh usage is tricky — or time-consuming at the least. Calculating it involves combining the kWh measure of all energy-using devices in a home. Here’s how to find one appliance’s kWh (let’s use a microwave oven):
- Find the microwave’s wattage: 1,500 W.
- Multiply the W by how many total hours you use the microwave daily (say, 2 hours). This gives you 3,000 Wh.
- Divide that number by 1,000 to get its kWh: 3 kWh.
- Multiply the kWh by the number of days you’d like to measure (e.g., 30-31 days to find the microwave’s monthly kWh usage).
The 3-kWh microwave would use about 90 kWh monthly and 1,095 kWh annually.
If you need to find how much the microwave costs you in electricity, look at your electric bill. It notes how much your utility charges per kWh. Then, multiply the kWh number by the kWh price to determine the device’s cost per time period.
When you know the average kWh for a house — your house, of course — the benefits of going solar become much clearer. Going solar offers a hedge against rising energy costs.
HOW MANY KWH DOES AN AVERAGE HOUSE USE?
First, a sound, educated guess depends on what an “average house” means in the U.S.
The average U.S. home is a single-family home with 2.5 occupants. As of 2021, 82% of all homes were detached (stand-alone) single-family homes. A single-family home spanned between 2,000 and 2,500 square feet in 2021.
So, how many kWh does the average house use? That also depends on how many appliances it contains: roughly 14.
Considering the number of appliances, average kWh use, square footage and a survey, the U.S. Energy Information Administration offers an estimate. In 2021, the average U.S. home used about 10,632 kWh annually. The average house kWh per month equaled 886.
How many kWh does a house use per day? The number hovers around 29 kWh for average U.S. households.
TABLE: HOW MANY KWH DOES A HOUSE USE PER DAY AND MONTH?
For these estimates, we’ll use factors based on the data above.
Let’s say your house has three occupants, and you use a reasonable amount of electricity. For example, you run your heating and cooling systems enough to stay comfortable (usually 70 degrees Fahrenheit). The home appliances you own are standard, like heating/cooling systems, a washer-dryer stack and kitchen appliances (e.g., refrigerator, oven).
We’ve divided the monthly kWh usage by 30 days and rounded the numbers.
For example, if you have a five-person, 4,000-square-foot household and continually run central air, your monthly kWh usage could reach at least 5,000.
We know navigating all these measurements and estimates can be dizzying. At Lifestyle Solar, we’re here to clear the air — and help you save. Reach out to us now!
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