Electrical Energy Conservation Scheme at Home

Merra Grace AlmeriaSittie Ailah AndigRodna Jeliane ClosasSherifa Rossmia KadilClent Mark GaiteraKeren Jollia M. Nuñeza

Why should we reduce our electricity?

•Global warming•Electric Pollution•Increasing prices cause a heightened

sensitivity to price and problems for some household budgets.

Statement of the problem:

1.What are the commonly used electrical gadgets/appliances in the household?

2.Is the introduced scheme effective in reducing electric consumption?

3.What is the prevailing electricity consumption in kilowatt-hour among the households?

METHODOLOGY•Permission was asked from the 6 households to

conduct the research•Formulation of a survey questionnaire and

giving it to the households•Collection of Baseline Data (meter-reading)•Formulation of the Scheme•Verbal communication of the scheme to the

households•Data Collection with the Scheme (meter

reading)•Analysis of Data

Table 1. Scheme in Reducing the Consumption of Electricity

CATEGORIES UPPER-CLASS MIDDLE-CLASS

LOWER-CLASS

Lighting • Turn off when not in use• Open the windows/curtains to allow natural light to come in.

• Turn off when not in use• Open the windows/curtains to allow natural light to come in.

• Turn off when not in use• Open the windows/curtains to allow natural light to come in.

Entertainment • Do not use two appliances t the same time ( laptop & TV)• Unplug when not in use• Turn off the router when not in use.

• Unplug when not in use.

• Unplug when not in use

CATEGORIES UPPER-CLASS MIDDLE-CLASS LOWER-CLASS

Comfort (electric fan, air-conditioning and others)

• Unplug when not in use. • Plant more trees around the house• Have a scheduled usage.

• Unplug when not in use. • Plant more trees around the house• Have a scheduled usage.

• Unplug when not in use. • Plant more trees around the house• Have a scheduled usage.

Kitchen • Do not use electric stove• Refrain from the constant opening of the refrigerator.• Cook rice twice a day• Use microwave instead of oven and minimize use.• When the food starts to boil, put stove to low fire.

• Cook rice twice a day (in the morning- lasting until noon - and in the evening).• When the food starts to boil, put stove to low fire.

• Cook rice twice a day (in the morning- lasting until noon - and in the evening).• When the food starts to boil, put stove to low fire.

CATEGORIES UPPER-CLASS MIDDLE-CLASS LOWER-CLASS

Others (washing machine, iron)

• Iron clothes in one sitting• Maximize the number of clothes in one load (washing machine)

• Iron clothes in one sitting• Wash and fold from the clothesline to minimize ironing

• Iron clothes in one sitting• Wash and fold from the clothesline to minimize ironing

The set of guidelines on Table 1 was formulated based on the commonly-used appliances in the households and those that need large amounts of electricity (i.e., water pump). The guidelines were also based on pre-existing knowledge of common household energy conservation methods.

However, after careful scrutiny, the six households were found to be of middle-class category so the scheme meant for the upper and lower-classes were not tested. To solve this discrepancy, a new scheme (table 2) was formulated.

Table 2.  Revised Scheme in Reducing the Consumption of Electricity

CATEGORIES GUIDELINES

Lighting • Turn off lights  when not in use• Open the windows/curtains to allow natural light to come in.• If possible use Compactt flourescent lamps (CFL) or LED lamps to replace incandescent and/or flourescent lamps.

Entertainment/Communication • Do not use two appliances at the same time (laptop & TV).• Reduce simultaneous use of several TVs.•Unplug all appliances when not in use.•Turn off router when not in use.• Unplug cell phones as soon as charging is completed.

Table 2.  Revised Scheme in Reducing the Consumption of Electricity

CATEGORIES GUIDELINES

Electric Fan/ Aircon • Unplug all appliances when not in use.• When using electric fan, open the windows and minimize use of heavy curtains to allow more air inside.• Have a scheduled usage of air-conditioning unit, put off aircon when not in use.• Plant more trees around the house to have cooler air.

Iron •Iron clothes in one sitting.•If possible, wash and fold clothes which do not need ironing.

Washing Machine • Maximize the number of clothes in one load.

Water Pump • Have a scheduled usage.

Table 2.  Revised Scheme in Reducing the Consumption of Electricity

CATEGORIES GUIDELINES

Kitchen • Do not use electric stove, if possible, as this entails more power consumption.• Refrain from constant opening of the refrigerator. • If using rice cooker, cook rice twice a day (in the morning -lasting until noon- and in the evening)• Minimize use of microwave and electric oven.• When the food is boiling, put it to low fire.

• Testing the Scheme

The scheme was tested by collecting meter readings everyday for an additional one week while the same households followed the scheme.  Start dates were not simultaneous, what was important was that all the households have completed the one-week prescribed period of meter reading.

ANALYSIS OF DATATable 3. Table showing the kind and quantity of gadgets/ appliances

used  and  usage in terms of  number of hours/day.

APPLIANCES QUANTITY NUMBER OF HOURS/DAY

Refrigerator 7 24/7

Aircon 8 10

Laptop/Computer 12 7

Electric Fan 17 24/7

Water Dispenser 5 3

Microwave 2 2/week

Light Bulb 100 24/7

Washing Machine 3 4/week

Exhaust Fan 1 1/week

Rice cooker 6 2

Electric Stove 2 3

Radio 3 4

Table 3. Table showing the kind and quantity of gadgets/ appliances used  and  usage in terms of  number of hours/day.

APPLIANCES QUANTITY NUMBER OF HOURS/DAY

Power saver 2 24/7

Electric Keyboard 1 3

Flat Iron 5 1/week

Iron (hair) 3 4/week

TV 4 10

•Analysis of Data

Survey results (table 3) indicate that light bulbs, electric fans, laptops/computers, air-conditioning units, and refrigerators are the top five   most common features in the household that require electricity.  In terms of use, light bulbs, refrigerators and electric fans top the list.

Table 4. Energy Consumption in kilowatt-hours (kWh) of the Six Households for Seven Days Without the Scheme

Household

DAY A B C D E F

1 41 74 16 2 84 4.7

2 37 90 14 1 14 4.8

3 35 81 21 2 8 4.3

4 43 22 22 4 57 5.2

5 35 6 35 2 6 4.9

6 32 26 21 1 56 6.4

7 36 130 18 2 14 5.8

Table 4  shows that electricity consumption in kilowatt-hours (kWh) ranged  from  32-41 kWh in household  A , 6-130kWh in household B, 16-35 kWh in household C,  1-2 kWh in household D, 6-84kWh in household E, and 4.3-6.4 in household F.

The much higher consumption in household B suggests that this household has many appliances or many users of appliances but day 5 has a consumption of only 6 kWh which also suggests that during this day the members of the household could be on holiday out of town considering the sudden drop of consumption.

Electricity consumption of household D is considerably lower compared to the other households. This could mean that this household has very few appliances or is very conscious of energy conservation even without this study. The four other households have a rise and fall in terms of kWh used..

Table 5. Energy Consumption in kilowatt-hours (kWh) of the Six Households for Seven Days With the Energy Conservation Scheme

Household

DAY A B C D E F

1 36 59 31 2 9 4.6

2 34 18 15 1 5 3.2

3 32 30 14 2 5 2.4

4 38 37 17 2 3 4.3

5 33 22 17 2 6 4.0

6 35 40 17 2 63 2.5

7 34 63 15 2 10 3.4

Table 5  shows that household A has more or less maintained  its kWh used in the range of 33-38 while household B from a high kWh usage on day 1 dropped to lower usage on subsequent days although it went up on day 7.

 The same is true for household E, which has unusually high consumption on day 6.  Households C,D, and F seem to be conscious with energy conservation that kWh are low.

Figure 1. Graph showing the Comparison of Data of the six Households with and without the scheme

Household A Household B Household C Household D Household E Household0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Without Scheme

With Scheme

 All households have marked reduction in consumption of electricity following the guidelines in the scheme.

Results suggest that it doesn’t matter if the cooperating household is low income or high income or household with many or few appliances.  What is apparent is that the scheme is effective in reducing consumption of electricity.

The data were subjected to a t-test to determine whether the differences in the electricity usage before and after the scheme are significantly different. Households A and F were found to have significant results at 0.5 level of significance.

APPENDIX B.t-Test on paired two sample for means (with and without the scheme).

t-Test: Paired Two Sample for Means

without with

Mean 37 34.57143

Variance 14.33333 3.952381

Observations 7 7

Hypothesized Mean Difference

0

df 6

t Stat 2.380476

P(T<=t) one-tail 0.027366

t Critical one-tail 1.94318

P(T<=t) two-tail 0.054733

t Critical two-tail 2.446912

Household AAt p<0.05, there is significant difference in the household consumption between without and with

Household B

t-Test: Paired Two Sample for Means

without with

Mean 61.28571 38.42857

Variance 1990.238 298.2857

Observations 7 7

Hypothesized Mean Difference

0

df 6

t Stat 1.518288

P(T<=t) one-tail 0.089871

t Critical one-tail 1.94318

P(T<=t) two-tail 0.179742

t Critical two-tail 2.446912

At p>0.05, there is not significant differences in the household consumption between without and with

Household C

t-Test: Paired Two Sample for Means

without with

Mean 21 18

Variance 46.66667 34.33333

Observations 7 7

Hypothesized Mean Difference

0

df 6

t Stat 0.803151

P(T<=t) one-tail 0.226261

t Critical one-tail 1.94318

P(T<=t) two-tail 0.452521

t Critical two-tail 2.446912

At p>0.05, there is no significant difference in the household consumption between without and with

Household D

t-Test: Paired Two Sample for Means

without with

Mean 2 1.857143

Variance 1 0.142857

Observations 7 7

df 6

t Stat 0.420084

P(T<=t) one-tail 0.344526

t Critical one-tail 1.94318

P(T<=t) two-tail 0.689052

t Critical two-tail 2.446912

At p>0.05, there is no significant difference in the household consumption between without and with

Household E

t-Test: Paired Two Sample for Means

without with

Mean 34.14286 14.42857

Variance 962.1429 464.619

Observations 7 7

df 6

t Stat 1.652803

P(T<=t) one-tail 0.074729

t Critical one-tail 1.94318

P(T<=t) two-tail 0.149458

t Critical two-tail 2.446912

At p>0.05, there is no significant difference in the household consumption between without and with

Household F

t-Test: Paired Two Sample for Means

without with

Mean 5.157143 3.485714

Variance 0.51619 0.734762

Observations 7 7

df 6

t Stat 3.568467

P(T<=t) one-tail 0.005903

t Critical one-tail 1.94318

P(T<=t) two-tail 0.011806

t Critical two-tail 2.446912

At p<0.05, there is significant difference in the household consumption between without and with

Conclusion and Recommendation

Over the 2-week observation period, there was notable decrease in the electric consumption of the selected households and significant decrease in two households. Results indicated that households can lower their electricity usage if they follow the scheme and are conscious in making the scheme work.

Recommendation

•Since the baseline data was taken only for one week and the intervention period was also for one week, it is recommended to have a longer period of study covering more number of households in order to come up with more conclusive results.