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I'm sure that if we've looked on the electricity consumption per person in the EU vs the US there will be a huge difference towards the US. The American living

I'm sure that if we've looked on the electricity consumption per person in the EU vs the US there will be a huge difference towards the US. The American living standards are vastly higher in terms of electricity consumption and are supported by a poorly maintained infrastructure most of the times.

skrause 4y ago
It's a weird thing so say that a higher electricity consumption equals to "vastly higher living standards" when the higher consumption might just be in part because of badly insulated homes.
- Dma54rhs 4y ago
  Americans pay way more attention to ventilation, air quality etc. We euros barely use AC, seeing mold at home in big cities like Porto is just part of living there. I don't think Americans would accept it.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- landemva 4y ago
  (Many) Americans also equate higher living standards with a huge TV which is generally turned on.
  - Throwawayaerlei 4y ago
    Is that really a lot in the scheme of things? I don't have CFL backlit LCD TV info handy since they've been supplanted by LEDs, but I looked at Best Buy (a big US seller of these sorts of things) and found a popular $500 65" and their most insane 98" $15,000 Samsung ones, 190 and 360 watts respectively. I'm old and by my family's standards 65" diagonal would be questionable at best, so I checked in the vicinity of 48", 43" and 50" only gets you down to 120-5 watts. Add probably not very many watts for whatever's supplying the signal and it doesn't sound like a big deal, although of course everything adds up.
tzs 4y ago
Make sure you are comparing the same thing. Several times here and elsewhere I've seen comments from Europeans mentioning they use 5-6 kWh per day which is average to a little above average for their country and wondering how Americans average 29 kWh per day. Almost invariably, when I cannot figure out how the heck one can get by on 5-6 kWh per day, since I use at least 10 kWh in the early summer when it is warm enough to need no air conditioning and cool enough to not need any cooling or fans and ask for details, I get the same answer. That answer is that they are using gas for house heating, water heating, clothes drying, and cooking, leaving only a computer or two, a fridge, a few lights, and maybe a TV to be powered by electricity. Americans are far more likely to have an all electric household. When comparing energy use instead of just electrical use Americans still average higher then Europeans but it is no longer a huge difference.
- landemva 4y ago
  Some European cities also have district heating, which is managed differently than at-home heat creation. https://www.euractiv.com/section/energy/news/berlin-kicks-off-e3-billion-district-heating-subsidy-scheme https://www.euractiv.com/section/energy/news/berlin-kicks-of...

skrause 4y ago

It's a weird thing so say that a higher electricity consumption equals to "vastly higher living standards" when the higher consumption might just be in part because of badly insulated homes.

Dma54rhs 4y ago
Americans pay way more attention to ventilation, air quality etc. We euros barely use AC, seeing mold at home in big cities like Porto is just part of living there. I don't think Americans would accept it.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
landemva 4y ago
(Many) Americans also equate higher living standards with a huge TV which is generally turned on.
- Throwawayaerlei 4y ago
  Is that really a lot in the scheme of things? I don't have CFL backlit LCD TV info handy since they've been supplanted by LEDs, but I looked at Best Buy (a big US seller of these sorts of things) and found a popular $500 65" and their most insane 98" $15,000 Samsung ones, 190 and 360 watts respectively. I'm old and by my family's standards 65" diagonal would be questionable at best, so I checked in the vicinity of 48", 43" and 50" only gets you down to 120-5 watts. Add probably not very many watts for whatever's supplying the signal and it doesn't sound like a big deal, although of course everything adds up.

tzs 4y ago

Make sure you are comparing the same thing. Several times here and elsewhere I've seen comments from Europeans mentioning they use 5-6 kWh per day which is average to a little above average for their country and wondering how Americans average 29 kWh per day. Almost invariably, when I cannot figure out how the heck one can get by on 5-6 kWh per day, since I use at least 10 kWh in the early summer when it is warm enough to need no air conditioning and cool enough to not need any cooling or fans and ask for details, I get the same answer. That answer is that they are using gas for house heating, water heating, clothes drying, and cooking, leaving only a computer or two, a fridge, a few lights, and maybe a TV to be powered by electricity. Americans are far more likely to have an all electric household. When comparing energy use instead of just electrical use Americans still average higher then Europeans but it is no longer a huge difference.

landemva 4y ago
Some European cities also have district heating, which is managed differently than at-home heat creation. https://www.euractiv.com/section/energy/news/berlin-kicks-off-e3-billion-district-heating-subsidy-scheme https://www.euractiv.com/section/energy/news/berlin-kicks-of...