Analyse your school energy use - when is your school occupied?
Carr Lodge Academy, Thursday, 30 January 2025
10
Analyst
KS1, KS2, KS3, KS4, KS5
What you did
Using our BMS (Building Management System) I reviewed the times that the heating was set to come on in comparison to when our Academy is open. I found a number of issues with timings of heat demand so i amended times so they were in line with when we have cleaners in the building at the start of the day and made sure the demand ends at the end of the school day as residual heat is sufficient to keep us warm until the building closes at 6pm.
To extend this I am monitoring the weather on a shorter term basis so I can be proactive with adjustment of thermostats instead of leaving them at the same level depending on the season.
To extend this I am monitoring the weather on a shorter term basis so I can be proactive with adjustment of thermostats instead of leaving them at the same level depending on the season.
Activity description
Contrary to popular opinion, teachers don't live in school. Find out a bit more about when and how your school is occupied to understand when and how energy is being used in your school.
Energy Sparks charts show your schools' energy consumption when the school is open (green) and closed (blue) on school days.
Energy Sparks charts show your schools' energy consumption when the school is open (green) and closed (blue) on school days.
For good energy management, you want most of your energy use to be when the school is open. Compare the following graphs showing the electricity use in two schools. Which school is using most electricity in the early morning? What time does the electricity use shoot up? Can you think of a reason for this? Is anyone in the school at this time?
Now look at School E. When is most electricity being used? Do you think this is anything to do with the school being occupied?
This is the recent electricity data for your school:
Change units
Explore
We do not have enough data at the moment to display this chart
We set open and closed times as a default but you can change this for your school when logged in as an Admin to your Energy Sparks account. Go to Manage School - Edit School times. Design a questionnaire for staff to answer so that you can understand better what happens at the start and end of the school day. You may want to ask the following questions:
- When do you arrive?
- What appliances/ equipment do you switch on? (include lights, kettles, photocopiers, projectors, whiteboards, computers, printers, heaters/air con)
- What time do you leave?
This is a very good opportunity for staff to think through their arrival and departure routines. Do they need to be switching on equipment so early or turning it off so late?
Explanations
School C either has cleaners coming in very early in the morning or the electrical heating system warming up the school.
School D is a good representation of when school staff are coming in.
School E may have a late evening event taking place. To understand more we would look at the graphs for the next few days. If this pattern repeats we would want to investigate the timings of the electrical heating system or ask the Caretaker or an Energy Sparks auditor for more help understanding what is happening.
School C either has cleaners coming in very early in the morning or the electrical heating system warming up the school.
School D is a good representation of when school staff are coming in.
School E may have a late evening event taking place. To understand more we would look at the graphs for the next few days. If this pattern repeats we would want to investigate the timings of the electrical heating system or ask the Caretaker or an Energy Sparks auditor for more help understanding what is happening.