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The Smart Home Energy Burden Index
Global interest in AI tools has skyrocketed in recent years, but which countries around the world are consuming the most energy on these technologies?
It seems like it’s almost impossible to escape the discussion of Artificial Intelligence right now. Machine learning tools like ChatGPT, Midjourney, and Claude are all the rage, and smart home technology is beginning to integrate AI software in a range of features.
The AI boom isn’t without its critics, however, as many have pointed out the energy consumption issues surrounding the technology. A recent study found that AI used ten times more energy than traditional search engines1https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-do-googles-ai-answers-cost-the-environment, driving concerns that using these tools could impact the environment.
The energy comparison service, iSelect set out to investigate the impact of AI on energy consumption globally. By monitoring each country’s search volume for various AI models and matching it with residential electricity cost and average annual usage (as well as the country’s share of renewable energy), we’ve created an index
The ten countries that consume the most energy when using AI
To rank each country, we gave them a score from 0 to 100 based on how much energy their homes used (and by association, how much they spent on electricity) when using AI software. The countries with the highest scores on our index are considered the areas that consumed the most energy on AI. Here are the ten countries that score the highest:
1. Portugal
Topping our list is Portugal, which scores 68.19 out of 100 on our index. With 4,705 annual searches for AI tools per 1,000 residents, it’s the country in our rankings with the highest search volume. Using 5,143 kWh of energy annually per capita, at a price of $0.35 AUD/kWh, Portugal’s high AI usage is sure to be driving up electricity bills across the country.
2. Luxembourg
Luxembourg had the second most annual AI searches per 1,000 people on our list with 4,637 in the last year, and an average electricity usage of 11,168 kWh/year per capita. Luxembourg lands second in on rankings, scoring 62.84 overall on our index. It has the highest share of renewable energy out of any country in our index with 90% of its electricity production from renewable sources.
3. Australia
Australia ranked third on our list overall, with the highest number of search volume for smart home devices in our index. Last year, the country made 752 smart device searches per 10,000 people, and 3,848 searches for AI tools per 1,000 residents. It scores 62.31 overall on our list, with an annual electricity use per capita of 9,832 kWh.
4. Spain
Spain had the third most AI searches per 1,000 people (4,457 last year) in our index. It lands in fourth on our list with an overall score of 59.88 but boasts a surprisingly low annual electricity usage (5,111 kWh/year per capita, the seventh-lowest in our data).
5. Netherlands
The Netherlands came in fifth place with a clear interest in AI tools, and with 3,808 searches per 1,000 people last year, it has a comparatively high interest in smart devices. With 424 searches for smart home technology per 10,000 people last year, it’s the country with the third-highest search volume for these devices, which contributes to its overall score of 58.80.
6. Denmark
Denmark had one of the higher electricity costs in our top ten, with each kWh costing $0.55 AUD – putting it on even footing with Switzerland’s expensive energy prices. It also had the second-highest share of renewable energy on our list (88%). These factors combined with 3,087 AI searches per 1,000 residents each year to land in sixth place overall in the index.
7. United Kingdom
British homes have the highest residential electricity cost in our top ten rankings, with the average home spending $0.61 AUD per kWh. The UK also has the second-highest search volume for smart home devices in our list, with 701 searches per 10,000 people in the last year. However, it has the least search interest in AI tools of any country in our top ten (2,493 searches per 1,000 people). These balance out to land the UK in seventh place in the overall index.
8. Sweden
Out of any country to rank in our top ten, Sweden has the highest annual electricity consumption, with 12,122 kWh used per capita each year, but its relatively low energy costs of $0.35 AUD per kWh allow it to rank towards the bottom of our top ten overall. With 2,787 searches for AI tools per 1,000 people last year, and a moderate interest in smart devices (333 searches per 10,000 people), it comes in eighth place in our overall index.
9. Austria
Despite having the least search interest in smart devices out of our top ten (76 searches per 10,000 people), Austria has the eighth-highest search volume for AI tools in our rankings, with 3,274 searches per 1,000 residents. These numbers combined with a high residential electricity cost of $0.52 AUD/kWh, it just makes it into our top ten, coming in ninth place.
10. Switzerland
Rounding out our top ten is Switzerland, which scores 49.91 to earn a place as one of the countries that uses the most energy on AI tools. Its electricity costs $0.56 AUD/kWh which makes it the second-highest in our top ten, and with 3,910 searches for AI tools per 1,000 people, it shows plenty of interest in machine learning.
The country that consumes the least energy when using AI
Czechia is the country that consumes the least energy when using AI tools, with the lowest use of AI technologies for every 1,000 people in the country. There were only 1,465 AI searches last year, suggesting it has the least interest in these technologies. It also only had 68 searches for smart devices per 10,000 people in the last year. Czechia is also mostly reliant on non-renewable energy, with just 17% of its electricity coming from sustainable sources. Scoring only 22.85 out of 100 overall, it placed at the bottom of all the countries in our list.
Surprisingly, the USA ranks at number 17 overall (scoring 40.28), despite the country’s heavy investments in the AI sector. For every 1,000 Americans, there were 2,244 searches for AI last year, and its low average electricity price of $0.28 AUD/kWh means that many of the country’s homes don’t spend as much on their software usage as others. The USA still had the fifth-highest search volume for smart devices, with 358 searches per 10,000 people.
“With such high search interest in AI across the board, it’s clear that these tools are only going to become more prevalent in our daily lives, but we can all take steps to ensure that we conserve energy when using them and other household items.
“If you’re concerned about how much you could be spending on your electricity usage, you could consider comparing providers to see if you could be saving on your bills. The team at iSelect can help compare your household energy with a range of providers. It is quick, easy, and could save you money on your bills.”
Julia Paszka
General Manager – Utilities at iSelect
Written by:
Sarah Grealy
Digital Public Relations Specialist
0413 363 690
Sarah is our Digital Public Relations Specialist, and brings more than a decade of experience in the insurance comparison industry to iSelect.
With a passion for storytelling through data-driven insights, Sarah strives to empower Aussies with practical guides and tips.
About the data
This dataset ranks 21 countries revealing which countries’ households are:
– Most engaged with AI tools and smart devices,
– Using the most energy,
– And paying the highest prices per unit of electricity.
To do this, 5 different factors were used. Once the data for the factors was collected, the factors were then normalised, to provide each factor with a score between 0 and 1. If data was not available, a score of 0 was given. The normalised values were summed and multiplied to give each country a total AI Home Energy Burden Score out of 100. The countries were then ranked from highest to lowest, based on their total scores.
The factors used are as follows:
– AI Searches per 1,000 – The total number of searches in each country for the prompts: “chatgpt”, “claude”, “copilot”, “dall-e”, “gemini” & “midjourney”, between Jul 24 – Jun 25, per 1,000 population.
– Smart Devices Searches per 10,000 – The total number of searches in each country for the prompts: “amazon echo”, “google home”, “google nest”, “ring doorbell”, “robot vacuum”, “smart light”, “smart thermostat” & “video doorbell”, between Jul 24 – Jun 25, per 10,000 population.
– Residential Electricity Cost – The average residential electricity cost in each country, per kWh in US dollars, converted to AUD $, on 11/07/25.
– Annual Electricity Use per Capita – The total annual electricity consumption per capita in each country, in kWh.
– Annual Electricity Cost per Capita – The annual electricity cost in each country, based on the ‘residential electricity cost’ & ‘annual electricity use per capita’ factors, in US dollars, converted to AUD $, on 11/07/25.
– Share of Electricity Production from Renewables – The percentage of each countries’ energy usage that are from renewable sources, as of 2024.
The factors were indexed as follows:
– AI Searches per 1,000 – Higher is better.
– Smart Devices per 10,000 – Higher is better.
– Residential Electricity Cost – Lower is better.
– Annual Electricity Use per Capita – Lower is better.
– Annual Electricity Cost per Capita – Lower is better.
– Share of Electricity Production from Renewables – Higher is better.
All data is correct as of 11/07/25. The ranking data shown is a compilation of multiple data sources and may not be representative of real life. All data is accurate with regards to the sources provided.
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