Saving energy at home

Energy conservation plays a key role in preventing environmental catastrophe. The problem of rational use of energy is one of the most urgent problems of humanity. The modern economy is based on the use of energy resources whose reserves are exhausted and cannot be renewed.

Every family has a certain impact on the environment. It's like she's connected to a single life support system. Through the channels of this system - electricity and hot water networks, water supply, gas pipelines, through trade, household, communal, supply organizations and companies, we get everything necessary for the normal maintenance of a home. And my family is no exception. If every person takes care of the use of natural resources, saves energy, water and reduces the use of single-use packaging materials, it will help prevent a global environmental disaster.

Using my family as an example, I decided to do some research on saving energy at home. My project helped me consciously move towards conserving resources in the house, save money on paying for consumed resources, improve my life and achieve greater comfort.

The problem of saving energy is not only relevant for my family, school, region, country, but also for the whole world. Saving energy enables the reduction of own costs and a smaller impact on the environment. It helps to create a culture of energy saving - it is, above all, training in practical actions, especially rational consumption of electricity, the use of new technologies and the use of energy-efficient household appliances and electric lamps.

The goal of the project: Learn to use electricity in your daily life with maximum benefits and minimum costs.

Objectives of the project:

• Discuss the use of electricity in everyday life, why you should save it and what methods can be used for this.
• In the research part of the project, fill out the apartment's energy passport, measure and analyze electricity consumption.
• Determine measures to reduce energy costs.
• The subject of research is energy saving in everyday life.

Research hypothesis: I can assume that my family can make a feasible contribution to saving energy, and thus save the planet Earth.

The main part

Saving energy at home

What do we mean by energy saving? Energy saving is a set of measures for saving and rational use of electrical and thermal energy. Energy conservation has become one of the priority tasks of man due to the lack of basic energy resources, the increasing cost of their production, as well as due to global environmental problems.

Every year, the production of fuel and energy costs people more and more, while people are beginning to clearly understand that the senseless waste of energy, especially electricity, or the unprofessional use of energy devices is not only immoral, but also a blow to the pocket, and the further, the harder it is.

Therefore, the main principle of a modern home is energy saving. Unfortunately, we rarely think about how and how much energy we spend on solving specific problems. We often waste too much energy where we could save it.

From January 1, 2011, in accordance with this law, a complete ban on the circulation of incandescent bulbs with a power of more than 100 W was introduced. And from 2014, a complete ban on the circulation of lamps with a power of more than 25 W was introduced.

Why save energy

You need to conserve energy to reduce your harmful impact on the environment. Unfortunately, no one can achieve energy savings just by pressing a button or switch. Of course, you can completely turn off the power supply, but how long can a person live in an apartment without electricity? This is unlikely to suit anyone. Therefore, the question of how to save energy at home worries everyone, including me. But energy costs are rising for another reason - people have more and more electrical devices in their apartments and houses. Accordingly, the load on transformer substations increases, which must be repaired more often or installed more powerfully. Energy saving is the cheapest and most environmentally friendly "source" of energy. This is an approach to energy saving based on the use of energy saving technologies designed to reduce energy losses.

Ways to save energy

Every family is fully capable of reducing household electricity consumption by almost half without significant damage to human comfort if they learn a series of useful rules and apply them systematically. The most effective method is to replace incandescent bulbs with energy-saving fluorescent or LED lamps.

Equipment that is on standby and not used for a long time must be turned off (computer, TV, charger, microwave oven, etc. ). It is recommended to use a washing machine with maximum load.

You must make it a rule to turn off the lamp or chandelier when you leave the room for a long time. Boil only the required amount of water in the kettle and descale regularly.

Clean the dust container of your vacuum cleaner more often. Turn on the air conditioner with windows and doors tightly closed.

If you are away for a long time or are leaving, turn off all electrical appliances except the refrigerator.

Desks and computers should be positioned to make the most of natural light.

I think that if you adhere to the developed energy saving rules for a while, then invented ways of saving will become a habit for the family. That's why there's an energy saving sticker on the fridge and every light switch has a warning sign that my sister and I drew for our house.

Research part

The number of electrical devices in our home is constantly increasing, and so are our electricity bills. And that's not surprising, because 6 other people live in the house with me. A very urgent question for us is: how to save energy in our home? And I began my experiments. The first thing I did was create an energy passport for my home. Second, I looked at how much electricity we use when we live an ordinary life and do not particularly monitor energy savings. And thirdly, I set a condition at home for two weeks: to save money and not to use electricity. After analyzing all the data, I suggested to my dad to replace the lamps in some rooms of our house with energy-saving ones.

The energy passport of my home

I analyzed the electricity consumption in the house, and then compiled a table of electrical household appliances with indicated power and a table of lighting lamps for all rooms of the house.

Table of electrical household appliances that are most often used in our home:

no.	Device name	Energy consumption, W
1	Washing machine	2300
2	A vacuum cleaner	2100
3	Refrigerator	400
4	Microwave	1500
5	Food processor	1200
6	Grill oven	1300
7	Blender	750
8	TV 1	67
9	TV 2	80
10	TV 3	80
eleven	Hairdryer	2000

Table of lighting lamps for all rooms of our house:

Room type	Lamp type	Lamp type	Strength, W
1st floor
Living room	Ceiling	LED	9 W x 2=18 W
The kitchen	Ceiling	LED	11 W x 12=132 W
Bath	Ceiling	LED	9W x 5=45W
Corridor	Lamp	Energy saving	11 W x 1=11 W
Pantry	Chandelier	Energy saving	11 W x 1=11 W
2nd floor
Room 1	Chandelier	Energy saving	11 W x 3=33 W
	Desk lamp	Energy saving	11 W x 2=22 W
Room 2	Ceiling	LED	11 W x 4=44 W 9W x 1=9W
Room 3	Chandelier	Luminescent	36 W x 1=36 W
Room 4	Chandelier	Energy saving	11 W x 3=33 W
Corridor	Lamp	Luminescent	36 W x 1=36 W

The table shows that among household appliances, the washing machine has the highest energy consumption, followed by a vacuum cleaner and a hair dryer, although the latter is not used that often.

Measurement and analysis of energy consumption

The purpose of the experiment was to calculate the cost of consumed electricity. The first period is normal consumption, the second period is savings.

the date	Meter reading at the beginning of the week	Meter reading at the end of the week	Electricity consumption kW/hour	Price rub.
from 08. 10-22. 10. 2017	5117	5324	207	730. 71
from 23. 10-06. 11. 2017	5340	5501	161	568. 33

The adopted tariff is: 1 kW/h - 3 rubles 53 kopecks.

So, the table shows that for two weeks of economical consumption of electricity, our family got162 rubles 38 kopecks.

I have seen in practice that power is consumed if devices are turned on but not in use, or if devices are in standby mode.

During the work, my hypothesis was confirmed. We found ways to save electricity, however, it was difficult for family members to save light all the time, with the exception of the older generation (grandparents). That's why at this stage energy saving is not a habit for our family, but for now only a condition of the experiment.

I think that if you follow the developed energy saving rules for a while, then invented ways of saving will become a habit for our family.

Saving the family budget

I decided to calculate how much energy is consumed if the devices are on but not in use. Knowing the power of the device, I was able to calculate how much electricity is consumed when the TVs are on (and we have three! ) when they are not in use. If TVs are turned on and not used for only 2 hours a day, they consume 13. 8 kWh of energy per month. During the year it will amount to 165. 6 kW/h, and in some cases this time interval is longer and is 6 hours on average, so they consume energy up to 41. 4 kW/h, and during the year – 496. 8 kW/h. For a family budget, it ranges from 49 rubles to 146 rubles per month. Annually, it will be from 585 rubles to 1754 rubles. We decided this was a significant savings for our large family!

And another experiment. Measurement of energy costs when the equipment is in standby mode.

I unplugged the fridge and turned off the light. Appliances remained on standby: televisions, washing machine, microwave oven, charger. I observed the readings of the meter: in 4 minutes the disk of the meter made one turn. I calculated: 4 minutes - 1 turn, 1 hour - 15 turns. If the standby mode is 20 hours per day, then the energy consumption results can be up to 180 kW/hour per year.

Conclusion: the energy audit showed that the total daily electricity consumption in the apartment is slightly higher than 8 kW/h, which corresponds to a monthly electricity consumption of about 240-250 kW/h. All calculations were made in autumn, when maximum energy consumption occurs due to short daylight hours. Additionally, I have found that electrical appliances that are plugged in but not in use or in standby use a lot of energy. This means that by turning them off, you can reduce energy costs and save the family budget.

Conclusion

In the process of preparing the project, I not only studied and analyzed the data obtained as a result of measurements and experiments, but also took the initiative in replacing outdated incandescent bulbs with energy-saving ones, proving their advantages. Currently, my apartment is fully equipped with LED and energy-saving lamps.

This is the simplest thing that can be done to save energy in a family; anyone can do it.

Now imagine that we managed to reduce electricity consumption by 100 W. This means that we saved:

• coal - 48 kilograms
• oil - 33 liters
• gas - 35 cubic meters.

The study showed that if you use household appliances correctly, use energy-saving light bulbs and do not leave appliances in standby mode, then energy costs in the family can really be reduced and the family budget can be saved.

Therefore, by studying the question of how to save on electricity and applying various energy saving methods, we also take care of the future generations that will live on our planet.