In previous literature, it has been reported that over 50% of all energy consumed in buildings occurs during non-working hours. Unfortunately, to the best of the authors' knowledge, studies to date using field-collected data have only investigated energy consumed during periods of non-occupancy in non-domestic buildings and little is known regarding this quantity of energy in households. The work presented in this paper bridges this information gap and contributes to the literature by presenting a first look into this quantity in households. In a yearlong investigation of seven dormitories, hourly occupancy data and electricity consumption is combined and analyzed using numerous statistical methods to discover the amount of energy that is expended in unoccupied households. Across the seasons, the average household consumed between 27.5% and 31.5% of all energy while unoccupied. This quantity in individual rooms fluctuated from under 4% to over 80%. Differences in occupant behavior, along with time spent unoccupied, can explain the differences in this quantity among the households. Further, no meaningful relationship was found between total energy consumption and percentage of energy spent in empty rooms for individuals. High and low energy users both spent electricity while away from home in proportion to his/her consumption. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.