Estimation of domestic urban electricity consumption: A case study of Baghdad, Iraq

Abstract

Electricity consumption for household purposes in urban areas widely affects the general urban consumption compared to other commercial and industrial uses, as household electricity consumption is affected by many factors related to the physical aspects of the residential area such as temperature, housing unit area, and coverage ratio, as well as social and economic factors such as family size and income, to reach the extent of the influence of each of the above factors on the amount of electricity consumed for residential uses, a selected sample of a residential area in the city of Baghdad was studied and a field survey conducted of the characteristics of that sample and the results analyzed and modeled statistically in relation to the amount of electricity consumed for residential units. Results showed that the annual electricity consumption is directly proportional to both the increase in the residential plot area and the increase in the number of residents of the housing unit and the increase in the monthly income of households, while it is inversely proportional to the plot coverage rate. Through the results of the field research, it was possible to build six quantitative models describing the behavior of electricity consumption in relation to the variables covered in the research.