Devices Measure Heating Fuel Use in Kotzebue Homes

In an effort to create household basline heating data for Alaska communities, ACEP research assistant professor Dominique Pride and graduate research assistant Alana Vilagi installed fuel pump monitoring apparatuses in nine households in Kotzebue Nov. 16-18.

The PuMAs will remain in place through spring 2021, collecting the first residential heating fuel consumption data for an Arctic community in Alaska. The data will be used to compare actual fuel consumption to engineering estimates.

This research is funded by the National Science Foundation under an Office of Polar Programs award titled “Collaborative Research: Using Field Experiments to Understand Household Barriers to Energy Efficiency in Alaska.”

PuMA meters are also currently installed in households in Tanana and Fairbanks.

For information on this project, contact Dominique Pride at djpride@alaska.edu.

 

Alana Vilagi installs a PuMA device in a Kotzebue home. Photo by Dominique Pride.