Monday, May 11, 2009

Energy Project

Marla Sanders
binamig@gmail.com

My final project, for Ed 632-Classroom Internet Integration at University of Alaska Southeast, was to research some aspect of how I use energy. Specifically to discover whether or not I waste or squander resources and if so, to consider changes I could make that might improve the situation. Although the subject of the project was energy usage, the purpose of the project was to familiarize myself with; or improve my understanding of modern programs, services and resources that are readily available on the internet and may be used to enrich my teaching in the classroom.

I conducted a study to determine whether or not I waste an excessive amount of energy by leaving electronics and appliances, in my home, plugged in all the time. Called vampire or phantom energy draw, American electronics and appliances may waste as much as 3.5 Billion dollars a year—according to the Blog GreenHome. I measured the amount of energy, in kilowatts, that I regularly use over a four day period then unplugged non-essential appliances and electronics and measured the amount of energy I used over the next four day period. By comparing the two values, I hoped to have a clear understanding of whether I waste electricity and if so, how much.

Study Results

The results of my study were strange and very unexpected. Initial results suggest that I use slightly more electricity whenever I unplug half of my appliances and electrical equipment. I realized that the study had a major flaw—that I only measured for four days, in each sample. My use of electricity varies depending on the day of the week, with the highest draw on Sunday and lowest draw on Saturday. It would have made more sense to compare weekly kilowatt averages. Fortunately, I was able to use my data to explore another conservation issue that became apparent.

I discovered, and was able to confirm, that I waste energy in either case. I suspect my high consumption of kilowatts per hour is indeed phantom draw by my televisions—a suspicion that requires further study.

Presentation of my results available on YouTube.

Also, view data and report at Google Docs.

What I Learned

I learned so much during this project, about programs and services that are available, that I have set up my first web page for students to use. Yea me! On the down side; I have real concerns about privacy and have found that full participation in both my UAS web applications and my students’ web site has taken either a very creative effort on my part or a huge leap into the public abyss. Still, I love it all and am sure I will find a proper balance.

As to my presentation style, I like the recording that ended up on YouTube—more because it was the fourth time I taped it and I was pretty well rehearsed. I suspect that if one wants to record anything worth listening to, one has to spend more than $25 on a microphone.

The first recording was unusable. the second, with a new microphone, was better but every time I moved the wire (?) produced a crinkling sound—and I move a lot. The third taping went well. I didn’t move and I held the microphone about one centimeter from my mouth, which didn’t prevent the unfortunate recording, at the end, of a student saying F#@&*% that was long—man!! Bad recording AND a detention. He was right, it was too long but I don’t yet know how to edit sound so I had to make one more attempt. For this, my final audience: Listeners were under strict instructions to keep their mouths shut—I didn’t want to risk any other delays. There was one close call when, quite innocently, I said “do-do,” but otherwise they were very well behaved. In the end, my presentation was too long to post on YouTube and I had tape an alternative—and shorter—version at home. Now I know that one gig is all I can post at one time on the site.

The second taping, that you didn’t hear, was very instructive. I say ‘um’ and click my tongue a lot, which you don’t hear in the final tape because I learn best from public humiliation! The clicking and ‘umming’ may have occurred more because I was not moving at all, compared with my usual hand waving and walking about. Still, I will be paying more attention to how I pause in conversation. Also it’s pretty dry material. While I find the study interesting, it’s not really something I am excited to share—like algebra.

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