It appears an increase in working from home has led to changes in the way we use electricity.
The finding from a BC Hydro report says 70 per cent of respondents’ daily routines have changed following the pandemic and do not seem to be going back to the way they were pre-pandemic.
Changes can mostly be seen on weekdays, according to Hydro. They say electricity use peaked slightly later in the morning and earlier in the evening, like the way it did at the start of the pandemic.
They say this is because of societal changes like remote work, with 51 per cent of respondents saying they are still working at least one day per week from home. The report adds this is leading to 26 per cent still sleeping in and 19 per cent going to bed later weekdays.
With less office time, 15 per cent of respondents say they are showering less often in the morning and for shorter periods than they did pre-pandemic.
This same trend continues over to cooking and chores. BC Hydro’s report says 33 per cent are still cooking dinner at home more often and earlier than pre-pandemic and 25 per cent are still baking as a hobby.
Seventy per cent of respondents say they do their chores during the day on weekdays, including laundry at 48 per cent and dishes at 44 per cent.
To keep costs down with the shifting daily routines, BC Hydro recommends using energy saving features on home office equipment, cooking with smaller appliances like air fryers and slow cookers, switching to a heat pump and tracking household electricity use.
