The Green Team have been looking at the Energy Sparks graphs to try and understand what our baseload is and which devices are using energy when we are not in school. We looked at a graph for Christmas Day and were surprised at the amount of energy that was being used. We realised that the energy was fluctuating which made us think it was either something heating something up or cooling something done. We went for a walk around the school at the end of the day to see which devices are left on. We wondered: - are the fridges and freezers left on during the holiday? Could they be switched off? - Are the water coolers switched off during the holiday/weekends? -Does the heating come on in the holiday? -Does the server need to be left on during the holiday? We are going to arrange a meeting with our caretaker Mr Briskham to discuss these questions.
Activity description
What does your school use electricity for?
Some of those items could be switched off overnight but some of them need to be kept on all the time (at least during term time). The electricity that is needed to power items that keep running at all times is called your baseload. This can be measured by how much electricity is being consumed when the school is empty (evenings, weekends and holidays).
More than half this school's energy is used when it's closed!
Why would you want to keep paying for electricity when no one is in school? Cutting down on this means cutting costs plus reducing your carbon footprint.
Look at the following graphs. Each point on the graphs show the average amount of electricity being used during out of hours periods each day. For one of these schools, its baseload changes quite a lot from day to day. For the other, baseload remains quite consistent - for most of the year.
Can you see how the baseload in the first example varies wildly from day to day? This means that the baseload is not consistent. From one day to another different amounts of electricity are being used and different amounts of equipment are left running when the school is closed.
Let’s look at the second example again. Can you see how in October 2024 something dramatically changed? What do you think the cause of this might have been? a. All electrical items were switched off b. Something that uses a little bit of electricity was left on c. Something that uses a lot of electricity was left on d. A new piece of equipment was installed
Look at your school
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We do not have enough data at the moment to display this chart
Look carefully at the graph. How has the baseload changed over time? Does it change seasonally (from summer to winter)? Are there any unusual spikes or drops? What stories can you tell by looking at the data? Click on the graph and compare school days with weekends and holidays. Is electricity being used at the same time every day?
Let’s look at the second example again. Can you see how in October 2024 something dramatically changed. What do you think the cause of this might have been?
This school had a temporary swimming pool installed on its playground.
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