This lesson addresses Instructional Objective 3.01

(Much of this lesson was taken from The Class Project, "Meter Monitors" and TVA Energy Sourcebook, "Conservation.")

Electric meters can offer consumers handy reference points. They can tell how a house uses energy, how fast it uses it, and even how it compares with the national average.

How close were your individual and group energy use estimates to the national averages? (Allow for responses.) Was everyone off a great deal in one or two categories? (Allow for responses.) Could the region of the country in which we live, or the climate, account for the discrepancy? For example, people in subtropical regions of the U. S. might use less energy to heat their homes and more to cool them. (Allow for responses.)

Now you will learn to measure your home energy consumption. (Draw a rough example of an electric or gas meter on the board or hand out a diagram of a meter.) This is a meter. Do you know where the meter is located at your house? (Allow for responses.) If not, look around the side or back of your home. It should be relatively easy to locate.

The electric meter measures use in kilowatt-hours (kwh), while the gas meter measures cubic feet (ft3) of gas. A kilowatt is one thousand watts. So if you light ten one hundred-watt light bulbs for one hour, you will use one kilowatt-hour of electricity. A cubic foot of gas, on the other hand, will provide about three-tenths of a kilowatt of energy.

Both types of meters use dials to register the amount of energy used. Electric meters note the rate at which electricity is being used, at any given time, by means of a rotating disk under the dials. Some gas meters indicate the rate of use with dials that measure half-ft3 of natural gas. On both kinds of meters, hands on alternate dials move in clockwise and counterclockwise directions. The directions for any dial can be identified by noting the direction in which the numbers are arranged. (At this point, either hand out examples of the dials on the meter or draw an example on the board.)

For reading electric meters, there are only two rules to remember:

1. Meters may have either four or five dials, measuring thousands or tens-of-thousands kwh. Read the dials from left to right.

2. When the hand is between two numbers, read the smaller number. If the hand points directly at a number, and you cannot determine whether it has passed the number or not, then look at the dial to the right, and determine whether it has passed zero. The dials in the figure, then, would read 4024 kwh.

1. Read the dials from left to right.

2. Read the number that the pointer has just passed, on the three left dials, but read the number that the pointer is closer to, on the far right dial.

3. Add two zeros to the result, since gas meters register 100 ft3 units. So, if the example that you see was a gas meter, then it would read 4025, or 402,500 ft3 of gas.

Let's now assume that this meter is a gas meter. What is the reading on the first dial? (Allow for response.) That's right, 3. The second dial? (Allow for response.) Good, 8. The third? (Allow for response.) Right, 4. And the fourth? (Allow for response.) That's right, 1. Now, what is the reading in ft3 of gas? (Allow for response.) Right, 384,100 ft3.

Now, look at figure 3 and determine the reading from the dials, first in kilowatt-hours and then in cubic feet. I'll help you, if you need help. (Walk around the room, checking for responses. (Answers: 5262 kwh, 526,200 ft3.)

Now, look at figure 4. You do this one, finding answers, both in kwh and ft3 (Allow time for students to determine the readings.) The answers are 8027 kwh and 802,700 ft3. How many of you got those right? Lets see a show of hands. (It may be necessary to work another example, depending upon the response.)

Once you are able to read your meter, it is easy to calculate the energy used for any period of time. Simply subtract the reading taken at the beginning of the time period from the one taken at the end. The difference is the amount consumed.

(Hand out the worksheets for recording electric meter readings.)

You will be using these worksheets to keep daily records of use of electricity for two weeks, taking the readings at the same time each day. Why would taking readings at different times each day affect your daily results? (allow for response.) Also, record daily temperature highs and lows. In addition, if possible, record, on a separate sheet of paper, the amount of time that major appliances, such as washer, dryers, or air conditioners, are used each day.

For the first week, you will simply be making a record of your normal energy use. During the second week, you will need to use the energy efficiency suggestions that I am about hand out, to analyze your home energy use efficiency.

(Hand out Energy Efficiency Suggestions.)

Try to apply as many of these suggestions, as possible, during the second week of your experiment. At the end of the two weeks, we will compare Week I and Week 2, in order to determine if there were any differences in energy consumption.

(At the end of two weeks, have students bring their worksheets back to class.) Were you able to observe any differences between Week 1 and Week 2? (Allow for response.) How great a difference did you observe? (Allow (for responses.) How great was the overall difference? (Allow for responses.)

Did you observe any change in energy use during days that large appliances were not being used? (allow for response.) Was there any difference in energy consumption between warmer and cooler days? (Allow for responses.)

How many of you heat or cool your homes, cook, or heat your water, with gas or another energy source other than electricity? (Allow for responses.) If you will, find a partner who uses only electricity in his/her home and compare your results. (If necessary, students may work in larger groups.) (Allow students a few minutes to compare results.) How do your results compare? (Allow for responses.)

If you found that during the second week, you were able to cause little or no change in your home's energy use, it may be due to the fact that the appliances that you can control do not visibly affect energy consumption on a short-term basis. It does not mean that your energy conservation efforts have produced no results. It is simply because the electric meter is not precise enough to register slight changes in electricity use. If you were to make measurements over a longer period of time, you would see more noticeable results.

(Part of this information was taken from the T.V.A. Energy Sourcebook.)

The first step, in any major effort to conserve energy, is a change in our society's attitude toward energy consumption. Americans are considered a wasteful, "throw-away" society. We consume many more resources, per capita, then people in other countries, even those with comparable standards of living. We produce about 150 million tons of solid waste every year, but reclaim only 12 million tons. With recycling of wastes, money, energy, and other resources could be saved.

Recycling is one of this country's most promising means for saving energy and resources. Recycling a discarded aluminum can would save enough energy to light a 100 watt light bulb for 20 hours. Recycling paper required 60% less energy, while recycling glass requires 35% less energy, and the recycling of scrap metal requires 75% less energy. In addition, recycling used oil could save 1.3 million barrels of oil per day.

Not only do Americans waste resources and energy by not recycling, but we also have many wasteful habits and inefficient uses of energy. By changing personal habits and energy usage patterns, purchasing and properly using energy-efficient appliances, and eliminating unnecessary waste in our homes and other buildings, we can conserve energy and at the same time save money.

Wasting energy is no longer acceptable in either our behavior or our equipment and facilities. For example, public buildings and individual homes can waste a great deal of heat. Buildings are often too warm in winter and too cool in the summer. In addition, window space is poorly planned for energy efficiency. Amount of window space, window orientation, and type of windows, all affect the energy efficiency of a building. In cool climates, more windows should be installed in south and west wells to maximize solar heat gain, while in warm climates, fewer windows should be placed in south and west walls. Double-pane, heat-reflecting glass in windows can provide further energy savings. Proper insulating and sealing also contributes to energy efficiency.

Transportation is another major every-day energy usage in which much energy is wasted. Americans burn nearly 200 million gallons of gasoline in their cars every day. Our country has 40% of the world's automobiles, and half of the automobile gasoline used in the world goes into their tanks. Developments in automobile design and efficiency are on the rise, but we must conserve fuel by properly maintaining personal vehicles, eliminating unnecessary driving, car-pooling, and making greater use of public transportation.

For most of us, the changes in our use of energy will not be fundamental ones. We will make our purchases with a view to efficiency and recyclability, and rely less on throwaway packaging. In the future, we will probably drive smaller cars at slower speeds, make greater use of public transportation, and walk more. In short, Americans will learn to think of energy as money.

You have been divided into groups of four. You will now need to select a chairperson for your group who will provide leadership for the group. (Allow groups to choose chairpersons.) You are now living in the year 2050. Your assignment is to depict life in the year 2050, with reference to some aspect of energy conservation. You may make your presentation either in the form of a skit or an oral presentation. You will have five minutes in which to make this presentation to the class. (Allow students one class period to prepare presentations, either allowing them to work in the library or providing them with resource materials in the classroom.) (After students have had sufficient time to prepare, have them make their presentations to the entire class.) (After all presentations have been made, present the following questions for discussion:)

1. in what ways might energy conservation practices in the year 2050 differ from those today? (Allow for responses.)

2. What kinds of differences might we see between home energy conservation practices today and those in the year 2050? (Allow for responses.)

3. What types of differences could we expect in transportation? (Allow for responses.)

4. Will there be any differences with respect to recycling? (Allow for responses.)

Dorf, R.C. The Energy Factbook. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1981.
Marzia, E. The Passive Solar Energy Book. Emmaus, PA: Rodele Press, 1979.
Shurcliff, W.A. Thermal Shutters and Shades. Andover, MA: Brick House Publishers, 1980.
The Class Project. Washington, D.C.: National Wildlife Federation, 1982.
The Energy Sourcebook. Knoxville: Tennessee Valley Authority.

Energy: A National Issue. Tennessee Energy Education Network.
Energy: Critical Choices Ahead - A New Look. Tennessee Energy Education Network.
Living With Energy-Amoco. Tennessee Energy Education Network.
The Energy Caper. Modern Talking Picture Service.
When the Circuit Breaks. (SCI-290). Tennessee Department of Education Film Library.

Modern Talking Picture Service, Film Scheduling Center, 5000 Park Street North, St. Petersburg, FL 33709
Tennessee Department of Education Film Library (Contact your school system's library or media resource person to schedule these films.)
Tennessee Energy Education Network, (800-342-1340)

American Institute of Architects. Energy Conservation in Building Design. AIA, 1974.
Computer Software. Energy House. Distributed by WCC, 1984.
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McPherson, B.Hot Water from the Sun. The Franklin Research Center.
Tennessee Valley Authority. Appliance Energy Use Fact Sheet. Knoxville: TVA.
Tennessee Valley Authority. Energy Saver Home Standards. Knoxville: TVA.
Tennessee Valley Authority. Solar Homes for the Valley. Knoxville: TVA.
United States Department of Energy. Energy Conservation- Homes and Buildings. USDOE, 1979.
United States League of Savings Association. A Clipbook of Energy Saving Ideas in Home Building. USLSA, 1980.