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from the you-can-almost-hear-the-juice-being-sucked-down-the-wires dept.
Gizmodo has a story showing just how much energy the US is consuming:
In 2012, American homes consumed 3.65 billion kilowatthours (kWh) worth of electricity up from 720 million kWh in 1950 - more than double per household than our British counterparts, and second only to China. How did the American home become such an energy hog, despite so many advances in efficient appliances and construction? Blame the American Dream. That 3.65 billion kWh is just part of America's total annual energy consumption, but it is overwhelmingly employed by the residential and commercial sectors. According the the US Department of Energy, the residential sector alone consumes 37 percent of the total electricity production that's an average annual consumption of 10,837 kWh, or 903 kWh monthly. Louisiana residents consumed the most electricity in 2012 with 15,046 kWh, while Maine consumed the least, just 6,367 kWh, though this is due partly to LA's ubiquitous electrically-driven A/C units and Maine's opposing reliance on heating oil.
(Score: 2) by Sir Garlon on Monday April 21 2014, @12:53PM
This bothers me, too. The conventional wisdom in the US is that people work harder (excuse me, "are more productive") when they feel too cool than when they feel too hot. So workplaces err on the side of making it cold.
Experimental science shows that the optimum temperature for productivity [productivity-science.com] is a bit higher than where most US companies set their thermostats. "Productivity" is a hard thing to measure and I'm skeptical how widely applicable a single study can be. That said, I'd speculate that the companies who set their thermostats too low are basing their decision on older data and/or a misguided belief that it's better to have workers too cold than too warm, especially in summer.
[Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.