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Comment by sgt | Hacker News Reader

South Africa here.

Our house uses about 20 kWh a day during the summer, with some minor AC usage in one of the rooms when needed.

During the winter probably about 30kWh, and that excludes extra costs like wood for fireplace.

My house is fully insulated and all windows are double glazed, so that keeps energy usage more efficient. I also have a solar heater (aka "geyser") which lowers energy costs even more. So with that in mind, I really can't believe they're using less than this in Europe...

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They might be just using less electricity but other means to generate their needs.

I've heard that the EU has a lot more district heating (which wouldn't show up in an electricity bill, AFAIK) and I'd imagine a fair deal of older buildings have a boiler using oil or gas or something else to burn.

AC is also just not very prevalent.

> I'd imagine a fair deal of older buildings have a boiler using oil or gas or something else to burn.

In the UK gas boilers are common even in newbuild homes. I don't know a single person with AC (though it's common in offices).

Far north New Zealand, 4 bedroom house, no insulation, no double glazing, electric hot water and cooking. 9-10 kWh/day October-May, ~18 kWh/day June-September (dehumidifier). Wood burner (about US$150/winter) when the heat from the dehumidifier isn't enough to maintain 20 C.

Remarkable. I’m in Sydney, my house sounds similar by description but I have gas hot water and stovetop. My house uses over 5 kWh/day for ambient/idle power alone.

I'm typing this on a 32 core ThreadRipper with 32" 4K screen, which runs 24 hours a day! I also have a Zen 2 laptop and a headless M1 Mac Mini running all the time. And assorted Raspberry Pi, HiFive Unleashed etc. But no TV (or at least it's off).

That's impressive. What's your usage pattern like? I mean, in our house there's regular use of washing machine, tumble dryer, dishwasher, TV's, swimming pool pump. Heck even the swimming pool takes a couple of kWh a day! Would be curious on how to live so frugally.

Sorry if I was unclear. 5 kWh/day of idle. That’s how much it uses when we’re literally not home and all I’ve left on is the networking gear, appliances on standby, etc.

My average actual occupied usage is closer to 20-25 kWh/day, varying mainly by AC load.

Sorry, you were clear enough, I just didn't read properly. I think my idle is about the same.

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