1. As a school we started to lower weekly how long the heating was running until it was noticed by staff. each week we reduced the time by one hour and now have the heating running for 5 hours a day less during the working week. 2. Classroom projectors when switched off still used energy in standby mode and are difficult to get to the mains so individual timers have been fitted to each classroom socket and now the power is turned off from 5pm until 7.30am saving 14.5 hours per classroom. 3. We have noticed by the meter readings and CO2 levels that we are using a 3rd less gas with the reduction in heating and made approx 40% less CO2 from Jan 24 - Feb 24.
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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