When you hear the words football and spike on Super Bowl Sunday, the first image that comes to mind is probably a touchdown-scoring New England Patriot Rob Gronkowski.
But according to BC Hydro, electricity use also spikes during Super Bowl Sunday as people cool down beers and cook chicken wings.
They’ve found its not during the big game itself that energy use soars to the tune of an eight per cent increase—it’s during the pre-game when food and drinks are prepared.
During the past four years, the pre-game uptick has been equal to cooking 2.4 million frozen pizzas, the energy provider says.
By kickoff time, around 3 p.m. on the West Coast, the increased electricity load drops off, as people gather with friends and family for watching parties.
Hydro says multiple people watching on one screen, and party-goers skipping the dishes and laundry until post-game keeps the meter down while the game is on - even with an estimated 4.5 million Canadians watching the Super Bowl each year.
BC Hydro has a few recommendations football fans can do to keep their pre-game energy use down:
- Skip preheating dishes, even if it takes longer to cook
- Use smaller appliances wherever possible, such as a toaster oven instead of an electric oven
- Turn off the heat on your dishwasher’s dry settings
- Drop your thermostat to around 18 C, especially with lots of guests over
Super Bowl LIII kicks off at 3 p.m. this Sunday, and you can watch all the action on CTV.
