1. Personal Awareness and Energy Consumption
Brian Hardison
Pi Beta Phi Elementary School, Gatlinburg, Tennessee
Typical American family has 40 appliances that are routinely plugged in even when not actively being used.
Many appliances- even when turned off- use electricity
Average household uses $1,900 dollars per year on energy costs according to U.S. Dept. of Energy
5-10% of these costs are from appliances that are plugged in 24 hours/day
Computer and televisions consume the most nergy while plugged in.
Other appliances that use energy continuously; dvd players, modems, cable boxes, radios, coffeemakers, lamps, toasters, ipod/iphones and other electronic gadgets
Goals for students
To spark a discussion on how much could be saved if we unplugged the appropriate appliances.
Which appliances should be unplugged, which ones should not be?
What is an alternative to unplugging appliances? Hopefully this will guide instruction into smart appliances/energy efficient area.
Formula 1
 - If your latitude is below 25 degrees, multiply the latitude times .87.
   Example…Bogota, Columbia’s latitude is 5 degrees
   5 X .87 = 4.4 (So, 4.4 would be the estimated angle of panel)
Formula 2
 -If your latitude is between 25 degrees and 50 degrees, multiply the latitude times .76, then add 3.1.
Example… Minneapolis, Minnesota’s latitude is 45 degrees
 45 X .76 = = 37.3 (So, 37.3 would be the estimated angle of panel).
Goals for students
Use protractor to determine accurate angle of solar panel
If your solar panels produce more energy than needed for your home, what becomes of the exeess energy?
What are advantages and disadvantages of solar panels?
How could the use of solar panels impact the grid?
Incandescent….60 watt / 1,000(converts into kWh) = .06 x 8,000 hrs(lamp life) x .10(average charge/kWh by utility company) cents to purchase bulb =$48.25 cost for bulb to operate 8,000 hrs(approx. one year)
CFL…..13 watt/1,000(converts into kWh) = .013 x 8,000 hrs(lamp life) x .10 (average charge /kWh by utility company) to purchase bulb = cost per bulb to operate 8,000 hrs(approx. one year)
Have students figure out savings( diff)
Average room has 4-6 bulbs
Average home has 8-10 rooms
Yearly savings
Goals for students
Calculate difference in savings between incandescent and CFL bulbs
Calculate total savings per room, per home and yearly savings
Calculate total savings in cooling cost(once bulbs in home are all converted to CFL bulbs)
Categories
Incandescent
CFL
Watts consumed (W) 60 13
Rated Lamp Life(hours)
10,000
8,000
Electricity cost per kWh($/kWh)
.10
Cost per bulb($)
.25
3.00
This was supported primarily by the ERC Program
of the National Science Foundation and DOE under
NSF Award Number EEC