A new BC Hydro report finds we might have a spike in electricity use, as more people plan to host holiday gatherings.
“Hosting the holidays: How a return to entertaining could mean increasing electricity use this holiday season,”(1) finds 97 per cent of British Columbians asked plan on getting together with family and friends in person this holiday season.
44 percent plan on cooking a big holiday meal, which could mean a rebound in electricity use from last year.
People also plan on decorating more indoors and outside this year.
The company has the following tips to reduce energy consumption over the holidays:
○ Cook for conservation: If you are cooking a big holiday meal, use a microwave, toaster oven or instant pot whenever possible. These options use less than half the electricity of a regular oven.
○ Use star power: Appliances can account for up to 20 per cent of a household’s electricity use. Using ENERGY STAR certified appliances can help customers save on their holiday energy bills.
○ Switch to LEDs: Save about $40 over the holiday season by switching eight strands of incandescent lights to energy efficient LEDs. LED holiday lights also last 10 times longer and come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colours.
○ Plug decorations into timers or use smart plugs to manage electricity use: Reduce electricity costs by only having lights on when needed.
○ Give the gift of two in one heating and cooling: Replacing a gas furnace with a heat pump to cool in the summer and heat in the winter, will reduce a typical home’s greenhouse gas emissions by up to two tonnes per year.
○ Use MyHydro: See how cooking and decorating impacts electricity use by using the electricity tracking tools available on MyHydro, which can be accessed from a mobile device or at bchydro.com.
More ideas and information can be found at: holidays.bchydro.com.
1 Online survey conducted by Majid Khoury of 800 British Columbians from Nov 19-21, 2021 margin of error is 3.46%.
