A division of the US Dept of Energy recently posted an article citing a decline in the number of televisions per household. “Results from the U.S Energy Information Administration’s most recent Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) show that an average of 2.3 televisions were used in American homes in 2015, down from an average of 2.6 televisions per household in 2009. The number of homes with three or more televisions declined from the previous survey conducted in 2009, and a larger share of households reported not using a television at all.”
This seems to be good news for the apartment industry, driving down electricity costs for residents and/or property owners. At the vast majority of apartment complexes across the USA, in-unit electricity usage is billed directly from the utility provider to the resident. However, property owners are still impacted by the in-unit electricity usage since it can impact a community’s “whole building energy” footprint which directly correlates to a property’s ENERGY STAR® Score.
The survey also indicates that younger generations (which we know tend to be apartment renters) are trending toward even lower televisions per household. You can read the full article here:
http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=30132
Kent works at RealPage and helps apartment firms reduce operating costs related to utilities. You can connect with Kent at LinkedIn.com/in/kentmcd or Twitter.com/AptsKent.