“Going on well; there is new thrust with our prime minister’s commitment to cut down energy intensity by 20%.”
“I do not understand all this. But for a layman like me, it is hard to believe that a person like you walks in my house, spent some time, gets information from me and tell me how to save energy and walks away with a fat fee. It’s like looking at my watch and telling me what time it is.” He said sarcastically. “I have been staying in this house; I know ins and outs of the things. How would a person like you can help in bringing down the energy consumption? It’s absolutely impossible.” He concluded. He has been one of my biggest critics since my younger days.
“Let us start from your home uncle.” I said, deciding to take the bull by its horns. “You have been staying here for over ten years, aunty; Atul and Aditi follow your instructions. You pride yourself to be thrifty and energy conscious. So you must have done everything under you control to minimize the consumption. Let me see if I can demonstrate my skills to you, in your own turf.”
“Surely kid! You can take that chance. I won’t tell anyone if you fail.” He said in a serious tone. “But don’t expect any fees; you can have a free lunch though.” He added in lighter vein.
“Oh! Don’t worry I have my ways of getting back to you.” I said.
“How much is your consumption? What is the total bill amount?” I got to the work in very professional manner.
“Well, I have to check the bills. I have not seen the bills for quite some time.” He looked confused. “Sumitra, can you get us the electricity bills?” He requested his better half.
“Oh! We can surely save good amount. If you don’t even know the consumption; you can hardly be energy efficient.” I said taking a dig at his ignorance.
“Off course, we can save. He himself never switches of lights and fan, while leaving any room.” aunty interjected, not leaving a chance to get even at my uncle. “Anyway, these are the bills for last five years, if you need them.” Being a charted accountant, aunty was very particular about all such things. “But you have to break for teak and breakfast within fifteen minutes.” She added.
“May be at times I forget to switch off something, but don’t make generalize statement. Your nephew will take full credit for all such improvements and suggest fancy gadgets like occupancy sensors.” warned my uncle.
“Here are the bill details for the last one year; just have a look at the numbers.” I brought back his attention to energy audit.
| Month | Consumption | Amount |
| Units (kWh) | Rs | |
| January | 975 | 6435 |
| February | 890 | 5890 |
| March | 1010 | 6900 |
| April | 1320 | 9150 |
| May | 1670 | 11715 |
| June | 1350 | 9365 |
| July | 1275 | 8910 |
| August | 1190 | 8215 |
| September | 1210 | 8350 |
| October | 1375 | 9550 |
| November | 1050 | 7050 |
| December | 950 | 6270 |
| Total | 14265 | 97800 |
“Oh my God! You mean I spent almost a lakh of rupees on the electricity alone. It’s ridiculous, I just can’t believe this.” He was really shocked, so are many of us who do not check their bills regularly.
“Well be ready for few more shocks. Here is the list of electrical gadget and their power consumption.” Aunty was indeed a good accountant; here is what she gave us.
| Sr No | Description | Quantity | Rating |
| No | Watt | ||
| Drawing cum Dining Room | |||
| 1 | Tube Light | 2 | 36 |
| 2 | Lamp Shed | 2 | 60 |
| 2 | Fans | 2 | 60 |
| 3 | Television set | 1 | 240 |
| 4 | Music system | 1 | 100 |
| 5 | Cordless Phone | 1 | 10 |
| Kitchen | |||
| 1 | Tube Light | 1 | 36 |
| 2 | Mandir lamp - Zero Bulb | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | Fan | 1 | 60 |
| 4 | Mixer / Grinder | 1 | 750 |
| 5 | Microwave Oven | 1 | 800 |
| 6 | Refrigerator | 1 | 250 |
| Bed Room-1 | |||
| 1 | Tube Light | 1 | 36 |
| 2 | Night lamp - Zero Bulb | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | Table lamp | 1 | 11 |
| 4 | Fan | 1 | 60 |
| 5 | Iron | 1 | 1000 |
| 6 | Laptop Computer | 1 | 100 |
| 7 | Air Conditioner | 1 | 1500 |
| Sr No | Description | Quantity | Rating |
| No | Watt | ||
| Bed Room-2 | |||
| 1 | Tube Light | 1 | 36 |
| 2 | Table lamp | 2 | 11 |
| 3 | Night lamp | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | Fans | 1 | 60 |
| 5 | Personal Computer | 1 | 225 |
| 6 | Air Conditioner | 1 | 1500 |
| Toilet / Bathroom-1 | |||
| 1 | Lamp | 1 | 40 |
| 2 | Washing machine | 1 | 450 |
| 3 | Geyser | 1 | 3000 |
| Bathroom-2 | |||
| 1 | Lamp | 1 | 25 |
| 2 | Geyser | 1 | 3000 |
| Toilet-2 | |||
| 1 | Lamp | 1 | 25 |
| Passage | |||
| 1 | Lamp - Zero | 1 | 0 |
| Balcony | |||
| 1 | Lamp | 1 | 40 |
Let’s us now have a breakfast. We shall continue later.” Said uncle, looking for some energy to brace further onslaught.
But before we go let’s summarize what we have seen till now, assuming a role of teacher I commented, “Firstly, we have collected actual consumption and bill data for the last one year to analyze the variations. We have also listed down all the electrical gadgets with their nameplate rating (power consumption).”
“Yes sir!” said my uncle as we proceeded towards the dining table.
