What power demand does a residential building have? : A study about electricity consumption of a residential building in Knivsta

Sammanfattning: Knivsta municipality is planning a new climate-friendly and environmentally sustainable district called Nydal. The vision is to create a residential area that is minimally dependent on outside sources of electricity. The aim of this research is to evaluate the efficiency and electricity demand of a residential house in Knivsta. A model for the power demand of an apartment house has been constructed, using data for the electricity consumption of one household from Kiruna during a week in April. Data from the Swedish Energy Agency has been used to identify the distribution of electricity for the different loads. This study has focused on the electricity consumption of a family that consist of two adults and one child and their use of home appliances. A comparison between standard appliances and energy efficiency appliances has been made to find out how much the power and their load peaks can be reduced. The total amount of electricity consumption for the residential building’s households is about 93 MWh during a year. By selecting energy efficient appliances in the apartments the total household electricity consumption of the residential building can be reduced by about 55 MWh, which is almost a 60 % reduction per year. The residential buildings load peaks can be reduced. This can be achieved by installing energy efficient products by using Top Ten’s list over the most energy saving household appliances available on the market. Installing LED lamps and HWC driven products also reduces the power demand significantly. By installing HWC driven products in the common washhouse, the residential electricity can be reduced by 29 %. A more environment-friendly lifestyle affects the electric load. The power demand can decrease if buying less power demanding products, but also by using the power demanding products in a more energy efficient way. Knivsta municipality is able to help the tenants in Nydal to increase their knowledge. By increasing the individuals’ knowledge about power demand and energy saving, it is possible to influence individuals’ behavior and with that reduce the electric load.