On 3 February we looked at energy charts to understand when a building is occupied (and should be heated) and when it's empty (and doesn't need as much heat).
Eco Committee looking at how to understand when school is occupied and therefore needs heating
The week of 24 February Eco Committee reviewed our energy charts and then looked at when our school is occupied. The school opens at 7 am. Our private onsite nursery starts at 7:30 and goes until 6:00 pm. Breakfast club starts at 8 am. We have after school clubs until 4:30 pm. More energy is used during the day, with most being used when children are in class and also when the cooks are working to make our school dinners in the dinner hall.
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.
School A
School B
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?
School C
School D
Now look at School E. When is most electricity being used? Do you think this is anything to do with the school being occupied?
School E
This is the recent electricity data for your school:
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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.
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