There’s hardly anyone who isn’t aware that a solar panel system is the most sustainable and economical energy source for the future. But many don’t know that How Many kWh Does A House Use A Day? However, just buying any solar panel system doesn’t provide you with all its benefits. Solar Panels are a one-time investment. Proper research and knowledge about solar panels’ types, features, and functioning are essential before deciding which one to go for.
And one such requirement is knowing how much power you require to light up your home and appliances per day and how many panels you should install to achieve the required power or how much energy solar panels produce per day.
In this article, I will take you through the basics of kWh and energy consumption, the formula and factors it depends on, and various methods you can use to keep your power consumption in check. So read along.
What is kW or kWh?
When discussing energy use, kilowatts (kW) and kilowatt-hours (kWh) frequently need clarification. kWh and kW can be primarily differentiated based on what they measure.
A kilowatt is a unit of measurement for power, and a kilowatt-hour is a unit of measurement for energy; power is the pace at which something consumes energy, and energy is the ability to perform labor.
The kWh value on your energy statement represents how much energy is required to run a gadget or appliance for one hour. The difference between kWh and kW, as well as what you see in your statement, is that kW depicts the rate of electricity you use. In contrast, kWh denotes the amount of electricity you consume overall.
You can easily convert watts (W) to kilowatts (kW) using the formula by diving your wattage by 1,000:
1,000W 1,000 = 1 kW.
How much power do the electrical appliances at your home consume?
The usage of electrical appliances solely depends on and differs from one household to the other. It depends on the lifestyle one follows. With the median size of a home as 2,000 square feet and the average daily household power use (kWh) as 30 kWh, let’s analyze certain electrical appliances that every household has:
Depending on the circumstance, heating and cooling systems are quite energy-intensive. One typical 1800 W air conditioner running continuously for up to 8 hours may consume 14.4 kWh per day, which is approximately half the daily average. In the winter, 1500-watt space heaters can use up nearly as much electricity as air conditioning, if not more.
Another is a 5000w clothes dryer, washing machine’s (500w) and dryer (1800w–5000w) combined energy consumption might reach an astounding 3.5 kWh.
Next up are lighting fixtures that are a cunning source of power use. Using a 100-watt light bulb could result in daily energy use of 1 kWh, or 11.20 cents.
Moreover, depending on the features, a gaming laptop can consume between 300 and 500 watts, or 1 kWh, every couple of hours. If additional family members use electronics simultaneously, the costs can increase quickly.
How many Solar Panels would you require to power your house?
Any solar installation should aim for 100% electricity offset and maximum savings, not just to pack as many panels as possible onto a roof. Or some time people thinks to add as many to so that solar panels works during power outages. As a result, three key factors affect how many panels are required to power a house:
- Electrical Energy Use
- Solar exposure
- The power rating of solar panels
I’ll mention these three aspects individually and explain how to consider them while doing your calculation.
- Determining the kWh consumption
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that in 2020, the typical American household used 10,715 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy annually. That’s the same as:
30 kWh each day x 893 kWh per month.
It’s significant to notice significant regional variations in its usage. For instance, there was a significant difference between the average daily usage in two locations, but I will go with the 30 kWh per day national average for my example.
The simplest way to determine your daily electricity usage is by obtaining recent utility bills. You can use the usage information on your account to estimate how much electricity you have consumed daily for the past 30 days (or for however long your payment period is). Divide the total usage for the period by the number of days. The more invoices you can average together, the more accurate your assessment will be because electricity usage varies monthly.
Knowing how much electricity you use daily will help determine how many peak sun hours your system will receive daily.
This is based on the national average, determined over 24 hours, assuming that appliances are used throughout that time. When assessing your wattage consumption, take note of the wattage of equipment that must be used continuously throughout the day, such as a refrigerator or freezer, as well as the wattage and frequency of other devices.
- Solar exposure
Count the number of peak solar hours that your location receives. The amount of sunlight you receive, often called peak sun hours, is significant in calculating the number of solar panels you need to power your home.
A peak sun hour occurs when the solar irradiance, or average intensity of sunshine, averages 1,000 watts per square meter, or 1 kW/m2. The average peak sun hours in the US range from more than 5.75 hours per day in the Southwest to fewer than 4 hours per day in the farthest northern regions of the nation.
- The power rating of solar panels
The capacity of each solar panel to generate power per peak sun hour is the last factor. It is known as power rating and is expressed in Watts. Power ratings for solar panels generally range from 250W to 450W. According to sales data from solar.com, 400W is the power rating that is by far the most popular and offers a great balance between production and Price Per watt (PPW).
Choose a higher power rating to employ fewer panels if your roof space is restricted. You might think about a lower wattage if you want to pay less for each panel. Everyone has various objectives, so select the panels that best meet your requirements. I, however, use 400W panels for an ideal situation.
The final calculation to determine the number of Solar Panels required:-
With the three factors in place, I can now guide you to determine how many solar panels are required to power your home.
Let’s take this scenario:
- 30 kWh of power are used each day (30,000 Watt-hours)
- Average peak sun hours per day: 4.5 Average panel watts per square meter: 400
- You can modify the equation above as follows to find the number of solar panels:
- Peak sun hours, daily power use, and panel wattage equal the number of solar panels.
Let’s now enter the test figures:
400W / 4.5 peak sun hours / 30,000 Watt-hours = 16.66 panels
If I round up, 17 solar panels are required to power the typical American home and achieve the 100% electricity offset target.
On research, the cost of power generated by solar systems ranges from 6 to 8 cents per kilowatt-hour. I’ll let you figure out the rest accordingly.
How can you cut your energy consumption and save power?
By now, I have examined factors that may impact your household’s electricity use, but how can you prevent overuse from reducing your energy costs?
You can adjust a few items, including:
- Replacing your light bulbs with LED or CFL versions.
- Not leaving your devices on standby and turning them off at the wall.
- Putting your recently cleaned clothing on a drying rack inside or outside.
- Reduce your heating or turn your air conditioning up one degree or using solar A.C.
- Close your blinds and drapes to keep heat inside your home (only 40% of heat may escape through windows).
- Look for appliances with energy-saving stars. Compared to other models, these need lesser energy to run.
Conclusion
Finally, you should know how many kWh does a house use a day? Try deciding for yourself by following the steps I have mentioned above. According to this study, You may determine the best solar panel for you and invest in the one designed to fit your home lifestyle by recording your average monthly use and identifying behaviors or variables that may cost you valuable kWh and extra money.
Why is this article better? – This article first introduces the problem, explains it, and further gives easy and in-depth research into how a user can calculate the kWh consumption by themselves. Ending with some possible solutions to avoid increased consumption as well. It covers all, the introduction, explanation, solutions, and conclusion.
Ray is an avid reader and writer with over 25 years of experience serving various domestic and multinational private and public energy companies in the USA.