#129 - Interesting Report on the Nation-Wide Effects of Power-Hungry Devices in Homes

In the Industry News Section of the Electric Energy Online website, there is an interesting article about a recent report from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE).

The combined power usage of household and business devices in the USA surpasses the individual electricity use of some 200 countries including Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand.

According the Electric Energy article, these devices are referred to as miscellaneous energy loads, or MELs, because they do not fit into traditional energy-use categories such as refrigeration, HVAC, or lighting. This diversity has also meant that attempts to increase MELs' energy efficiency have varied, with some products having very little or any efficiency measures in place.

There is national interest in improving the efficiency of this category of devices. Newer devices on the market do generally have improved energy efficiency.

Here is a link to the Electric Energy Online article.

http://www.electricenergyonline.com/?page=show_news&ID=170965

Here is a link to the original ACEEE report.

http://aceee.org/research-report/a133