Energy Audit Lab
A. Data and Descriptions
Table 1: Meter Readings, Observations and Usage Notes for the period of 10 / 13 – 10/ 22
B. Calculating Monthly Energy Consumption:
1. Obtain a copy of your electricity bill. Calculate the average daily cost for electricity in your house.
$9.07
2. After calculating the daily electricity usage (in Table 1), average out the cost per kWh. If it is indicated on your electricity bill, how does your estimate compare?
My estimate is much lower than what is indicated on the energy bill. My estimate was $5.60 but the actual amount was $8.40. This could partly be because the previous bill had much hotter weather than the weather of October.
1. Obtain a copy of your electricity bill. Calculate the average daily cost for electricity in your house.
$9.07
2. After calculating the daily electricity usage (in Table 1), average out the cost per kWh. If it is indicated on your electricity bill, how does your estimate compare?
My estimate is much lower than what is indicated on the energy bill. My estimate was $5.60 but the actual amount was $8.40. This could partly be because the previous bill had much hotter weather than the weather of October.
Table 2: The Cost of Electricity
Table 3: Carbon Dioxide and Sulfur Dioxide Emissions, by Source, for generating electricity
1. Compare a utility bill from a summer month with one for March or April. Estimate what amount of the summertime bill is due to air-conditioner use.
The March utility bill used 1338 kWh, which is a very different figure than the 2588 utility bill of July. This shows that an astounding 51.7% is made up from air conditioning use alone.
2. Inspect and report on the following for your home:
a. The amount, location and quality (type and R-value) of insulation – The insulation is installed throughout the entire house. It is primarily found in the attics, and lining the walls inside the house. The insulation is fiberglass, and has an R-value of 3.2.
b. The amount of shade provided by trees or shrubs – The backyard has a tall pine tree line that provides a large amount of shade during the day.
c. The condition, composition, and color of the roof – The roof is new and is in good condition. It is composed of black shingles.
d. The air circulation in the attic – The attic feels very drafty with air being able to easily enter the attic and circulate around the room.
e. The tightness of the fit for doors and windows – The doors appear to fit very snugly with the addition of the draft protectors attached to the doors.
f. The color of outer walls (does it absorb or reflect heat?) – The outer walls are a mustard color. This color both reflects and absorbs heat, but primarily reflects heat.
g. Any other features that may affect the dwelling’s heat balance - N/A
The March utility bill used 1338 kWh, which is a very different figure than the 2588 utility bill of July. This shows that an astounding 51.7% is made up from air conditioning use alone.
2. Inspect and report on the following for your home:
a. The amount, location and quality (type and R-value) of insulation – The insulation is installed throughout the entire house. It is primarily found in the attics, and lining the walls inside the house. The insulation is fiberglass, and has an R-value of 3.2.
b. The amount of shade provided by trees or shrubs – The backyard has a tall pine tree line that provides a large amount of shade during the day.
c. The condition, composition, and color of the roof – The roof is new and is in good condition. It is composed of black shingles.
d. The air circulation in the attic – The attic feels very drafty with air being able to easily enter the attic and circulate around the room.
e. The tightness of the fit for doors and windows – The doors appear to fit very snugly with the addition of the draft protectors attached to the doors.
f. The color of outer walls (does it absorb or reflect heat?) – The outer walls are a mustard color. This color both reflects and absorbs heat, but primarily reflects heat.
g. Any other features that may affect the dwelling’s heat balance - N/A
B. Discussion
I've learned that the electricity that is taken advantage of every day is by no means free. Our household is currently receiving a hefty bill each month for the energy we use everyday.
One of the primary sources of high energy consumption is our appliances. When looking at the energy bill, the amount of kilowatt hours used jumped every time appliances were used. The washer and dryer particularly showed a trend of spiking the amount of kilowatt hours used. I think this could be a significant way to save kilowatt hours and money. After taking a closer look at our washer and drier, I found that they were not even energy star certified. Unfortunately, energy star appliances can be be very expensive and difficult to do. However, switching our washer and drier to energy star certified appliances could save a significant amount of kilowatt hours a month, which in turn will eventually save enough money to not only pay off the expenses of the new appliances, but continually to lower the electric bill. Switching the light bulbs to florescent lights may also be a viable option to lower the monthly bill. Florescent lights are much more energy efficient; however, they are also more expensive. Only switching the lights that get used the most such as in the family room and the hallways could be smart, economical option. The dishwasher appears to not be a viable switch. Being in a large family of six people, the dishwasher is used multiple times a day. Hand washing the dishes is probably not the most practical, as the sheer amount of dishes makes hand washing the dishes very undesirable, but it could be an occasional way to cut the monthly bill. Finally, a major observation I saw is the astounding effect that air conditioning has on the monthly bill. During the summer months my household used about twice as much kilowatt hours on air conditioning. To cut this cost, it would be very beneficial to purchase many small, low energy using fans. Air conditioning becomes very expensive so using smaller, more efficient fans could be a much better, and cheaper solution. It would also significantly reduce the amount of carbon dioxide and sulfur being released from the energy company to run the air conditioning. Another thing to watch for is making sure the air conditioning gets turned off when everyone leaves the house. Leaving the air conditioning on is very uneconomical and a lot of money could be saved if it would just be turned off.
Our electric company currently gets it's energy from a coal-based source. This coal-based source emits about 2000 kilograms of coal a month just from our house getting electricity. Not to mention the 13.8 kilograms of sulfur emitted. These are both pollutants that can cause further problems such as the greenhouse effect and acid rain, respectively. Switching to a oil-based or natural gas provider could definitely help reduce pollutant costs. Although this may be expensive, the dramatic reduction in emissions could make this choice worthwhile.
One of the primary sources of high energy consumption is our appliances. When looking at the energy bill, the amount of kilowatt hours used jumped every time appliances were used. The washer and dryer particularly showed a trend of spiking the amount of kilowatt hours used. I think this could be a significant way to save kilowatt hours and money. After taking a closer look at our washer and drier, I found that they were not even energy star certified. Unfortunately, energy star appliances can be be very expensive and difficult to do. However, switching our washer and drier to energy star certified appliances could save a significant amount of kilowatt hours a month, which in turn will eventually save enough money to not only pay off the expenses of the new appliances, but continually to lower the electric bill. Switching the light bulbs to florescent lights may also be a viable option to lower the monthly bill. Florescent lights are much more energy efficient; however, they are also more expensive. Only switching the lights that get used the most such as in the family room and the hallways could be smart, economical option. The dishwasher appears to not be a viable switch. Being in a large family of six people, the dishwasher is used multiple times a day. Hand washing the dishes is probably not the most practical, as the sheer amount of dishes makes hand washing the dishes very undesirable, but it could be an occasional way to cut the monthly bill. Finally, a major observation I saw is the astounding effect that air conditioning has on the monthly bill. During the summer months my household used about twice as much kilowatt hours on air conditioning. To cut this cost, it would be very beneficial to purchase many small, low energy using fans. Air conditioning becomes very expensive so using smaller, more efficient fans could be a much better, and cheaper solution. It would also significantly reduce the amount of carbon dioxide and sulfur being released from the energy company to run the air conditioning. Another thing to watch for is making sure the air conditioning gets turned off when everyone leaves the house. Leaving the air conditioning on is very uneconomical and a lot of money could be saved if it would just be turned off.
Our electric company currently gets it's energy from a coal-based source. This coal-based source emits about 2000 kilograms of coal a month just from our house getting electricity. Not to mention the 13.8 kilograms of sulfur emitted. These are both pollutants that can cause further problems such as the greenhouse effect and acid rain, respectively. Switching to a oil-based or natural gas provider could definitely help reduce pollutant costs. Although this may be expensive, the dramatic reduction in emissions could make this choice worthwhile.
Monthly Kilowatt Usage
As you can see, the kilowatt hours used during the summer is dramatically increased compared to the other months from the use of air conditioning.
House
Photo of my dwelling.