A new report from BC Hydro has found baby boomers are the province’s biggest “energy hogs,” despite thinking of themselves as the most energy-conscious generation.
According to the report, boomers use more than twice the amount of power as millennials, racking up, on average, $500 more in bills in a year than their children’s generation.
At the same time, it found that 53 per cent of baby boomers believe millennials use more power than they do. Just 40 per cent of millennials thought baby boomers used more power.
The report based its conclusion on the fact that boomers typically have larger homes, more appliances, and more energy-intensive habits.
It found 40 per cent of boomers live in a home larger than 2,000 sq. ft., while 42 per cent of millennials live in a home half that size or smaller. Indeed, it found that millennials were three times more likely to live in a home that was 500 sq. ft. or smaller.
Those bigger boomer homes were also twice as likely to have a pool and three times more likely to have a hot tub. They were 25 per cent more likely to have a home entertainment system, 53 per cent more likely to have beer or wine fridges, and 60 per cent more likely to have heated floors, the report found.
Millennials were also far more likely to be renters, meaning that they often forgo buying additional appliances, such as chest freezers.
The report also pointed to habits at home, noting that a full third of baby boomers cook dinner at home seven nights a week, often using the oven — a statistic 80 per cent higher than with millennials.
Eighty-five per cent of boomers also still subscribe to traditional cable service, the report found, noting that the combinations of TV, PVR and home theatre systems use significantly more energy than the laptops and tablets that millennials tend to use to consume media.