Overview

Many people use lots of different electrical appliances in their everyday life, without taking into account the cost of their

energy consumption habits. With energy costs across the country climbing, consumers must become more aware of how

their everyday activities use electricity, and the cost associated with those activities. This exploration of household energy

consumption will help you gain an appreciation of how much energy your family uses on a daily basis, and how much

money that energy consumption costs. To do this, you will:

1. Monitor and record your family’s use of a specific household appliance over a 24 hour period, noting the time of

each use, and the length of time the appliance is used.

2. Research your chosen appliance (using resources such as the owner’s manual, and the internet) to obtain the

following information/specifications:

i. Year, Make (Panasonic, LG, Black & Decker, etc), Model

ii. Power Source, Power Consumption

iii. (Optional) Energy Star Rating, Consumer Ratings, etc

3. Describe what happens with the appliance when it is not being actively used. Is it left on and/or plugged in? If so,

is it consuming energy during this time? How much energy (Calculate)?

4. Calculate how much energy was consumed during the 24 hour period, when the appliance was actively in use.

5. Calculate the Average use time of the appliance.

Hint: 𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑈𝑠𝑒 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 (𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠) =𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑈𝑠𝑒 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 (minutes)

𝑁𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑈𝑠𝑒𝑠

𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑈𝑠𝑒 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 (ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠) = 𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑈𝑠𝑒 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 (𝑚𝑖𝑛) × 1 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟

60 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠

6. Calculate the average energy consumption per use of the appliance.

Hint: 𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑢𝑠𝑒 (𝑊/𝑢𝑠𝑒) = 𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 24 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 (𝑊)

𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑈𝑠𝑒 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 (ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠)

7. Consulting appropriate resources (recent Power Bills, Nova Scotia Power

http://www.nspower.ca/en/home/residential/billing/powerrates/default.aspx ) calculate the cost of the energy

consumption of the appliance during:

i. Entire 24 hour monitoring period

ii. One Average use of the appliance

iii. All time when the appliance was not actively in use

iv. All time when appliance was actively being used

8. Analyze the various cost calculations, and explain whether your family’s use of your chosen appliance is efficient

and cost effective, and justify your responses.

9. Propose ways in which you could improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of your appliance usage.

10. Using the data and research you gathered about your chosen appliance, hypothesize how much energy your entire

home would use during the same 24-hour period? Justify your hypothesis.

11. Using the data and research you gathered about your chosen appliance, hypothesize how much energy ADJH

would use during a 24-hour period in the middle of the week. Justify your hypothesis.

Your project may be presented in the form of a formal report, a poster project, or a brochure; be sure to

consult the attached rubric for more detailed evaluation information.

Outcomes

113-9; 113-13: Students will be expected to propose a course of action that reduces the consumption of electrical energy

112-7: Students will be expected to provide examples of how science and technology affect their lives and their community

113-6: Students will be expected to evaluate the design of a technology and the way it functions on the basis of identified criteria such as cost and

the impact on daily life and the environment

210-8: Students will be expected to apply given criteria for evaluating evidence and sources of information

211-2: Students will be expected to communication questions, ideas, intentions, plans, and results, using lists, notes in point form, sentences, data

tables, graphs, drawings, oral language, and other means

308-18: Student will be expected to relate electrical energy to domestic power consumption costs: Watt as a unit of power (1 W = 1 J/s)

Criteria 4 3 2 1

KNOWLEDGE & UNDERSTANDING

Student is able to identify and

describe their chosen appliance, its

characteristics and technical

specifications

Student accurately records appliance

usage over a 24 hour period

Student provides a detailed

explanation of the energy used by

the appliance when it is not being

actively operated

» Description and specs are complete

and detailed, including extra

information that has been researched

such as Energy Star ratings, consumer

ratings, etc

» Description and specs are complete and

detailed; no extra appliance information or

research is provided

» Description and specs contain the

basic information, but 1-3 important

elements are missing

» Description and specs contain

basic information, but are missing

more than 3 important details, such

as brand, year, etc; more research

on the appliance is needed

» Usage log is clear and detailed,

including the exact time of day of each

use, and the exact length of each use

(in minutes)

» Usage log is completed and clear, but

some usage times are inexact

» Usage log includes either the time

of day of each use, or the length of

each use, but not both

» Usage log contains minimal and

inexact data, or is

incomplete/missing

» Clear and detailed explanation of the

energy used by the appliance when

not in operation is provided, showing

extensive research and calculation

» Explanation of the energy used by the

appliance when not in operation is

provided and shows research

» Explanation of the energy used by

the appliance when not in operation

is hypothesized, but no research is

shown

» Explanation of the energy used by

the appliance when not in

operation was not provided

THINKING

Student provides appropriate

justifications for their responses and

explanations, where applicable

Student provides detailed and

complete analyses of appliance cost

effectiveness

Hypotheses and justifications of

house-wide, and school-wide,

energy consumption are detailed

and well thought out

» Justifications show a clear and logical

thought process, connecting student’s

data to concepts learned in class;

student provides additional research

to emphasize their point

» Justifications show a clear and logical

thought process, connecting student’s data

to concepts learned in class

» Justifications show a logical thought

process, but further connections

between data and class concepts

could be provided

» Justifications show student’s

thought process; further

development is needed of logical

and relevant justifications and

explanations

» Cost-effectiveness analyses are

complete and detailed, showing deep

understanding of energy concepts (ie

kWh) learned in class; extensive

thought is shown regarding the

efficiency of current appliance usage

» Cost-effectiveness analyses are complete

and detailed, showing satisfactory

understanding of energy concepts (ie

kWh) learned in class; additional attention

could be directed towards whether current

appliance usage is efficient

» Cost-effectiveness analyses are

complete, but could contain more

details in order to illustrate

complete understanding of energy

concepts (ie kWh) learned in class

» Cost-effectiveness analyses require

additional attention and show

incomplete understanding of

energy concepts (ie kWh) learned

in class

» Hypotheses and justifications show

exceptional attention to detail and

clear thought processes that account

for many (4+) different variables;

additional research and resources are

provided to justify hypotheses

» Hypotheses and justifications show

attention to detail and clear thought

processes that account for 2-4 different

variables; additional research and

resources could be provided to stress

justifications

» Hypotheses and simple

justifications are provided, but with

minimal attention to detail that only

accounts for 1-2 variables;

additional consideration to

variables, as well as additional

resources, are needed.

» Hypotheses are provided but

require justification

APPLICATION

Student uses appropriate

calculations for Energy Consumption

» All formulas and calculations of

Energy Consumption are done

correctly; all work is shown in an

orderly fashion; all calculations and

answers use appropriate units

» Formulas and calculations of Energy

Consumption are mostly done correctly;

more work needs to be shown, or needs to be

organized more clearly; more attention

should be paid to including appropriate units

for all calculations and answers

» More attention needs to be paid to

using appropriate calculations and

formulas for Energy Consumption;

more attention to appropriate units

is needed

» Work and calculations for Energy

Consumption should be shown in

order to better evaluate where errors

may have been made; more attention

to appropriate units is needed

Student uses appropriate

calculations for Cost and Cost-

Effectiveness

» All formulas and calculations of Cost

and Cost-Effectiveness are done

correctly; all work is shown in an

orderly fashion; all calculations and

answers use appropriate units

» Formulas and calculations of Cost and Cost-

Effectiveness are mostly done correctly;

more work needs to be shown, or needs to be

organized more clearly; more attention

should be paid to including appropriate units

for all calculations and answers

» More attention needs to be paid to

using appropriate calculations and

formulas for Cost and Cost-

Effectiveness; more attention to

appropriate units is needed

» Work and calculations for Cost and

Cost-Effectiveness should be shown

in order to better evaluate where

errors may have been made; more

attention to appropriate units is

needed

Criteria 4 3 2 1

Student proposes appropriate

method(s) to improve cost

effectiveness of appliance use

» 3 or more different methods for cost-

effectiveness improvement are

suggested, and all methods are

practical and realistic; research and

deep thought is shown through

detailed explanations

» 2 different methods for cost-effectiveness

improvement are suggested, and both

methods are practical and realistic; extended

thought is shown through clear explanations;

further research could be done to deepen

understanding and inspire further creativity

» 1 method for cost-effectiveness

improvement is suggested, and this

method is reasonably practical and

realistic; more thought and/or

research could be put into

developing understanding and

inspiring creativity

» 1 method for cost-effectiveness

improvement is suggested, although

further thought could be put into

practicality and realistic goals; more

thought and research should be put

into deepening understanding and

inspiring creativity

MAKING CONNECTIONS

Student provides detailed hypothesis

predicting the total energy use of

their entire home over a 24 hour

period

Student provides a detailed

hypothesis predicting the total

energy use of their entire school

over a 24 hour period

» Hypothesis is detailed, and provides

in-depth rationalization of the

predicted energy consumption for

entire home over a 24 hour period;

additional research is used to support,

and elaborate upon, the hypothesis

» Hypothesis is detailed, and provides

rationalization of the predicted energy

consumption for entire home over a 24

hour period; additional research could be

used to support the hypothesis

» Hypothesis of the energy

consumption of entire home over 24

hours requires additional details

and reflection; additional research

should be considered to deepen

and refine prediction

» Hypothesis of the energy

consumption of entire home over

24 hours is very basic and requires

additional thought and reflection;

additional factors should be

considered to refine prediction

» Hypothesis is detailed, and provides

in-depth rationalization of the

predicted energy consumption for the

entire school over a 24 hour period;

additional research is used to support,

and elaborate upon, the hypothesis

» Hypothesis is detailed, and provides

rationalization of the predicted energy

consumption for entire school over a 24

hour period; additional research could be

used to support the hypothesis

» Hypothesis of the energy

consumption of entire school over

24 hours requires additional details

and reflection; additional research

should be considered to deepen

and refine prediction

» Hypothesis of the energy

consumption of entire school over

24 hours is very basic and requires

additional thought and reflection;

additional factors should be

considered to refine prediction

COMMUNICATION

Student organizes research and

findings in a logical and clear

manner

Student uses appropriate

terminology

Student uses appropriate English

language conventions, ie grammar,

spelling, etc.

Any resources used are listed in a

Bibliography at the end of the

project

» Project is organized very effectively

and proceeds from one subject to

another in a logical manner; headings

and formatting techniques (bolding,

italics, etc) are used appropriately to

guide the reader through the project

» Project is well organized and proceeds

from one subject to another in a logical

manner; headings and formatting

techniques (bolding, italics, etc) could be

used to better guide the reader through the

project

» Project is organized, although more

attention to the ordering of subjects

is required; headings and

formatting techniques (bolding,

italics, etc) could be used to better

guide the reader through the

project

» Project needs further organization;

some sections may be missing

» Terminology is consistently used

appropriately; student uses expanded

technical vocabulary beyond terms

that were discussed in class

» Most terminology is used correctly;

occasionally a term is used in the wrong

context; further research could be done to

expand technical vocabulary beyond terms

discussed in class

» Some terminology is used correctly;

1-2 terms require review as they

are consistently used incorrectly

» Minimal terminology is used;

further attention to definitions and

where terminology is appropriate

is needed

» English language conventions are

consistently used correctly; 1-2 minor

errors may be present

» English language conventions are usually

used correctly; 1-2 major errors may be

present

» Project could benefit from

additional editing to refine English

language conventions; 3-5 major

errors may be present

» Project requires additional editing

to refine grammar and other

English language conventions;

more than 6 major errors were

present

» Bibliography includes more than 5

resources; use of all resources is

evident throughout project

» Bibliography includes 4 or 5 resources; use

of most resources is evident throughout

project

» Bibliography includes 3 resources;

use of most resources is evident

throughout project

» Bibliography includes 1 or 2

resources; use of all resources is

not evident throughout project