The Energy Pie Activity Tips

The Energy Pie Activity Tips

This activity appears in the section Use Energy Efficiently. The Energy Pie activity asks students to guess at how much of home energy use goes to power various activities in a typical home.

Encourage students to print the Energy Pie and label it with their guesses before they review the answer key.

  • Lighting—4%
  • Heating & cooling—53%
  • Large appliances—10%
  • Water heating—15%
  • Other devices & appliances—14%
  • Home electronics—4%

Source: www.energystar.gov

Percentages on pie chart representing home energy use

Remind students that these figures are based on national averages. If your climate is extremely hot and/or cold, you will use more energy for heating and cooling than the numbers show. Likewise, if your climate is quite moderate, your heating and cooling energy use will be smaller than that shown on the pie chart.