This article was originally published in the September/October
1994 issue of Home Energy Magazine. Some formatting
inconsistencies may be evident in older archive content. | Home
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Magazine Online September/October 1994 Targeting Residential
Conservation Measures Space cooling is a major contributor to
electric utility peak loads in the Southwest. In Arizona,
electric utilities typically reach their summer peaks in late
afternoon, when temperatures often exceed 100deg.F. Residential
conservation measures focused on space cooling can reduce costs
associated with these peaks, by allowing utilities to avoid
burning fuel in their most expensive units and to defer
additions to generation, transmission and distribution capacity.
We conducted a study of 149 houses in the Phoenix, Arizona, area
to find out which conservation measures are most effective in
reducing space cooling loads.* We audited the houses, observed
hourly whole-house electricity usage for on