Energy Use When Warm and Smoky

This project investigates the impacts on residential power demand during warm summers when air quality is compromised by smoke from wildfires. We hypothesize that the energy use increases when the air is smoky because of additional purchase and use of air conditioners and air purifiers when temperatures are warm and the air is smoky from wildfires because windows must be kept closed, eliminating the evening cooling ability practiced by homeowners. We'll focus our analysis in the Seattle area using Seattle City Light energy use data and SeaTac weather station data. U.S. Air Quality Index (AQI), EPA’s index for reporting air quality ranging from 0 to 500, will be used for air quality data. The timeframe will initially focus on June through August during 2015 through 2018.