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Did you know that you are likely to use a whopping 18% more energy if you live alone than if you live with someone? It’s true, but it’s complicated, because it’s not about how many lights you use or don’t, it’s the amount of space you inhabit. It seems that people are choosing to live in larger and larger spaces in fewer and fewer numbers. Maybe you hear people refer to the new “McMansion”, which is a house with more than 10 rooms. These houses are huge and very often, you will find that only two or three people live in these homes, which causes a huge energy suck. The problem is that houses now are just so much larger. Add that to all of the new technology that we use every day and you find that people are using and the fact that more people live alone these days than they ever did before.
Single person households, added to the sheer size of so many homes that are being built now are causing more energy to be used. Where in the past, you would find families of four living in less than, or at 2000 square feet, now people are living with three or less in over 3000 square feet. Energy usage has skyrocketed and it keeps going up.
If you have a McMansion or an oversized house, the bottom line is that no matter how much you choose to caulk, insulate, or turn down your thermostat, you will be using more energy than a 7 room house of any age or size.
What does this say for people who want to go more eco-friendly? Don’t live alone if you can help it and if you do, consider downsizing a little from a huge home to one that fits you. You will find that your energy costs go down dramatically. If you are trying to be more eco-friendly and have a family, remember that you don’t necessarily have to have tons of extra space. While it’s really important to make sure that every member has their own space and you have the room you need for everything you need the rooms to do, it’s also important to remember that you do not need a separate office and spare bedroom. If you’re planning exclusively for a spare bedroom, then you’re wasting space and heat energy.
If you’re planning to remodel your home, rather than adding on extra rooms, you may want to consider adding extra space to existing rooms or splitting large rooms into two, so that you’re not actually creating this huge sprawling energy eater. Consider focusing more on how customized your home is, rather than how large it is.
While you don’t want to cram your family in, you shouldn’t have too much unused space in your home. If you have too many unused rooms in your home, then you have too much space. A good rule of thumb is to go with ideally, a joint bedroom for parents, separate bedrooms for children, kitchen, eating area, living space and extra space to play. Any more and you’re just eating up energy.
