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I'm curious to see how much of that difference is actually caused by environmental factors. Most of the continental US gets down right hot for 2-5 months out o

I'm curious to see how much of that difference is actually caused by environmental factors. Most of the continental US gets down right hot for 2-5 months out of the year. So hot that air conditioning accounts for the largest share of commercial and residential electricity usage. This is probably becoming an even bigger factor when you consider there has been a mass migration from more temperate climates of the upper Midwest to areas such as Texas, Florida and the Southwest. This migration began in the mid 20th century with the advent of reliable central air conditioning. My question is are Americans consuming more electricity than the average German because of environmental factors or because we're really guzzling power like gasoline in the 1960s and 70s?

lispm 14y ago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_air_conditioning http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_air_conditioning > Superior energy efficiency can be designed into new construction (or retrofitted to existing buildings). Since the U.S. Department of Energy was created in 1977, their Weatherization Assistance Program[25] has reduced heating-and-cooling load on 5.5 million low-income affordable homes an average of 31%. A hundred million American buildings still need improved weatherization. Careless conventional construction practices are still producing inefficient new buildings that need weatherization when they are first occupied. Compare that with German standards for energy efficient buildings.