Discussion: The only way in which the electricity bill can be reduced is by decreasing the amount of energy used. This can be brought about in many ways. First we have to identify the area in which most amount of electricity is being used. Looking at chart 1 we analysis that the most energy was consumed in the Dp foyer and the kitchen. This area results in the highest energy usage mainly due to the electricity used in the kitchen. The appliances in the kitchen are being used constantly because food is being cooked at various different intervals. The other reason could also be because there are many computers in the library and are always switched on. Using chart 1 again, we notice that the energy consumed in the hostel and road is almost the same as the energy consumed in the 1st and 2nd floor of the Dp block. This is because there are residents living in the hostel hence consume electricity through out the day and due to the computers and AC’s being used for a long time in the Dp block it results in a high power usage. Once we have identified the areas in which energy is being excessively used, we have to figure out ways in which we can save electricity. You can start on a small scale because every unit of energy saved helps the environment and also saves electricity. Our main aim is to bring down the electricity bill, hence looking at the chart 3, we can clearly see how much of electricity the AC consumes. We can lower it down, by stopping the usage of air conditioners in the winter since the climate in Pune is pretty cool. In the summer we should avoid using the AC’s in the day and night since the temperature is not too high and switched it on only when necessary. Doing this will help you save 1575 rupees every single day, hence the electricity bill will fall drastically. Chart 2 also shows us that the aqua guard consumes a lot of power. In order to reduce the electricity bill you can make sure that the aqua guard is on only when needed and should be switched off once water is filled. Alternately you could also fix the number of hours where the aqua guard should be kept on and accordingly fill the required amount of water needed per day. Plug points do not consume too much of power but the number of hours that it is kept on accounts for its contribution towards the high electricity bill. Try using the battery back up in your laptops for as long as it lasts and only use the plugs once it is absolutely necessary. Make sure that the plugs are switched off once not in use otherwise the power is being consumed for no reason. Then, think of other ways in which you can save electricity. Starting on a small scale like switching off the computers in the library if they are not in use, turning the lights and fans off once you leave the room, also help towards saving electricity. We could also come up with solutions which would help us save electricity on a large scale like building solar panels to help cook in the kitchen and use it as far as possible. Building solar panels will help save a lot of electricity but you should also take in consideration the amount of money that will be spent in building it. There is no use if the installation of the solar panel costs more than the amount of electricity it saves. Always keep in mind that starting on a small scale would help you save electricity on the long run.
Conclusion: We calculated that the energy used in the DP 1st and 2nd floor was 520.24 kWh. This was a reasonably high energy usage area because of the computers and ACs used throughout school hours. This was an estimation, since the number of hours each appliance was in use was not the exact value. According to the chart, the amount of energy used in the entire school per day was 1896.96 kWh; although if u compare this result to the theoretical value, it is far above what was excepted, thus showing us that the estimated value of the number of hours and the power for each appliance was estimated above its actual value. The amount of energy used per day in MBIS with the ACs in use is about 500 to 600 kWh. If we take an average of 550 kWh per day the error caused in our calculation was:
[1897-550/ 550] * 100 = 244.9 %.
This result shows us that the results calculated on table 2 had a 245% error. Hence the results on table 2 are not reliable and do not show accurate results about how much energy is used per day, month and year.
Evaluation: the reason that the practical result has a 245 % uncertainty is because of many reasons. Firstly the number of each appliance was calculated by pure observation and hence the chances of it being incorrect are very high. The energy consumed in each area was calculated by different groups and the reliability of some of these groups are very poor since the number of each appliance was calculated by different people in the same group and the result could have been easily manipulated to give a random estimation. Secondly, the power used for each appliance was given to us by the electrician and though the chances of uncertainties are quite low, there is still a possibility that he might have given u an estimation of the power and not the exact value, thus it is very important that you ask a secondary source or check the power by yourself. The main error was caused due to the estimation of the number of hours each appliance was in use. There is no possible way to get the exact value of the number of hours hence it was necessary to assume accurately but most groups did not do so and took a random number of hours which may have been much more than the actual number of hours, because of which the theoretical value of amount of energy used is much less than the practical value. Also, the AC’s account for a large contribution towards a high electricity bill hence it is critical to have an accurate estimation of the number of hours it is in use, otherwise you are bound to have a large error percentage. This experiment could be improved by making sure that each member in the group takes care of a particular task otherwise the data is unbalanced and the you would be forced to manipulate the data in your favour. For example, in this experiment, one member could count the number of each appliance, one member could get the literature value of the power of each appliance, the other member could estimate a reasonable amount of time each appliance was in use and the last member of the group could do the calculations. This would help the outcome drastically since the data is not mixed up and each member is responsible for its own result. Also make sure to repeat the number of times the observations are calculated in order to get a good average. For example, go around your given area many times and collect an average of the number of each appliance in order to get an accurate result. The results on table 1 and 2, are not accurate and thus not reliable, although our main aim was to find ways to reduce the electricity bill and this could be easily done if the measures to do so were followed appropriately. There were some difficulties in calculating the result since this was group result and we had to trust the results of the other groups which may not have been necessarily accurate. It is always easier to calculate the raw data yourself since you are aware of the errors caused and can easily carry out measures to correct them. Also, doing it alone makes the results more reliable since the error percentage would be much low. The estimation of the number of hours when the ACs were consumed caused a huge error and can be avoided by taking a better average and keeping in mind the time when it is switched off. This experiment could have been performed better by making sure that it was done alone. It would have taken much more time but the results would be accurate and the error percentage would be much less than 245 %. It would also help the experiment drastically if the number of appliance in each area were collected multiple times and a reasonable average was calculated.
There were no external links used, hence there is no bibliography.