There is a growing interest in reducing energy consumption and its associated greenhouse gas emissions
from every sector of the economy. The residential sector is a substantial consumer of energy in every
country and understanding which factors affect the energy consumption in this sector is crucial for policy
makers, investors, utilities, and other stakeholders. This study contributes to a better understanding of
these factors through a case study in Queretaro, Mexico. Particularly, this study sheds light on two different
methods for collecting detailed information on the end uses of energy in homes, and for assessing the
relationship between energy consumption and demographic and socioeconomic indicators. The data used
for this study were collected through face-to-face surveys in 32 households and by tracking real-time
electricity consumption in a subset of these households. Finally, a bottom-up model was used to estimate
the electricity demand of the households surveyed, with the results suggesting a correlation with income,
number of lightbulbs, dwelling size, and the number of days the household was occupied. The results of
the study motivated the authors to recommend the extension and replication of this study, to assess the
role of private transportation in energy consumption, and to improve the use of technology for the
collection and analysis of data.