Electrical systems are one of the most inefficient systems in a home. Usually not much thought goes in to planning how the electricity might be used, managed or protected from disruption. As the main energy-using systems (HVAC and water heating) become more efficient through advances in product technology, design and installation, the remaining “LAMEL” (lighting, appliances and miscellaneous electrical loads) represent a larger percentage of the total home load.
Only recently have product manufacturers started thinking about wasted power consumption—the power used by appliances, electronics and other equipment when not in use. Some electronic component manufacturers now include sleep modes on their systems, but only a few of those actually have built-in sensors that reduce their consumption after some period of inactivity. Other products still rely on the user to switch them to sleep mode at the end of a session, in lieu of turning the system completely off. Many home appliances still have time clocks, and many audio components never turn off, some just switching to standby mode, drawing power 24/7 and producing electromagnetic fields even after the user has supposedly turned the system off.
Peak Demand Management
There are a number of systems available in today’s market that can help us to manage utilities in our homes. Many electric utility companies around the country are in the process of or have recently upgraded their electric metering equipment to gadgets called smart meters. For those of you not familiar with this technology, one of the features of smart meters is that they will allow the “utility service provider of the future” (and in many cases, “the future is now”) to manage peak electrical loads by cycling off unnecessary power usage. Peak loads typically occur when everyone runs their air conditioners full blast in the heat of the summer while simultaneously doing their laundry and running the dishwasher with all the lights on. This describes the periods at which we are cumulatively demanding as much or more energy than is available at that point in time on the grid.
Whether or not this describes your family, unfortunately it does describe many others. Of critical importance is the fact that peak demand load is the basis that determines whether we must build any more nuclear, coal or other fossil fuel power generation plants. It is the peak demand load that our utility service providers must have the capacity to produce. None of us wants brownouts or blackouts. We want our power when we want it, which is a mindset that needs to change. Current applications of smart meters only give utility providers the ability to cycle off air conditioning or heating systems in increments of a few minutes to balance out peak loads.
More and more utility providers that actually produce electricity are investing heavily in renewable sources, as fossil fuel reserves continue to dwindle. Solar and wind farms dot the countryside across the planet. However, those sources have limits. Solar doesn’t produce when the sun isn’t shining, and wind turbines don’t produce if the wind isn’t blowing. And we currently have no way of storing the energy from those sources when they are producing. So, as populations continue to grow, we either meet increasing peak demand power needs with more fossil fuel generation (i.e., building more coal, gas and nuclear plants) or we as a society learn to be more conservative with our demands.
Let’s say we choose conservation. It is difficult to conserve power if you do not have the ability to separate necessary and unnecessary usage. Hmm, let’s define “necessary.” Most people would say that keeping the power to your refrigerator on all the time is necessary to protect stored food supplies. However, keeping the power light on for the plasma television and keeping the television cable box in ready mode while you are at work and your kids are in school is probably not necessary, nor is the digital clock on the oven if there’s nobody home to see it. But if these electric devices are all wired on the same circuits, how can we cut power to one of them and not others?
Electrical Load Management Systems
Structured wiring systems “home run” designated outlets and switches to a control panel box. This means that the wire goes directly to and from each of those receptacles back to the electrical panel. Even if you choose not to install any type of home energy management system initially, having your home wired in such a manner that you can control specific circuits in the future is a big plus. We’ll call this type of wiring design “load management ready,” 16 or LMR for short. The first generation of these types of smart devices are now on the market, able to communicate with you and giving you the means to manage and reduce their power draw. In the future, more and more smart technology will be available for home use.
As we discussed in this article, critical load management should be the priority of the system design. As populations continue to grow, extreme weather patterns continue to occur and energy sources are more strained to keep up, having the ability to reduce total power consumption to only those systems that must be operable (refrigeration, water pumps, hybrid auto charging stations and critical heating and cooling functions) is what is going to be really important to us. Once we have the ability to cover our critical loads, we can then manage our other loads to reduce consumption during peak demand periods, doing our part in reducing the utility service provider’s need to use those smart meters, or reducing threats of rolling brown- or blackouts, as the case may be.
Reducing Electrical Loads
Lighting and Ceiling Fans: Building codes related to energy consumption (the International Energy Conservation Code in the US and Canada) have driven huge technological advances in light fixtures and bulbs. First, we should look at the mandatory requirement in the US energy code17 that 75 percent of all builder-installed light fixtures be high-efficiency units like compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) or light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Most lighting manufacturers now offer a wide array of ENERGY STAR-rated fixtures in every style and finish and for every budget that meet this requirement. One recognizable feature of these fixtures is that they do not accept a screw-in bulb of any type. This is to prevent users from replacing the energy-efficient bulb with the old inefficient, incandescent type.
Remember, electric light fixtures can give off heat, especially if you are still using the old incandescent bulbs. So, these are contributing to cooling loads, causing your air conditioner to work harder and perform less efficiently. Using daylighting windows and switching to compact fluorescent or LED bulbs and ENERGY STAR fixtures can significantly reduce cooling loads both during the day (by not having to turn on as many electric lights) and at night.
CFL and LED technologies in bulbs have also advanced to offer these products in every style and application on the market. Retrofit replacement screw-in bulbs and entire fixtures (like retrofit LED recessed can lighting) are readily available, and prices are dropping rapidly. Even high-efficacy (lumens-per-watt efficiency) light bulbs, that are fully dimmable while maintaining long life expectancy, are also readily available.
ENERGY STAR also rates ceiling fans, and these should be installed in every possible living space in the home. Air movement alone is one of the best strategies for improving your comfort. ENERGY STAR-rated fans are very efficient, and, again, any integrated lighting components are high- efficacy plug-in type bulbs only.
Lighting controls and automation systems can also save energy. These controls are available for use on individual fixtures, fixture groupings or circuits or even entire homes. Remember, the goal for energy conservation is to reduce waste, so don’t let yourself be sold on a system that promotes “mood” or “scene” lighting, which in fact can result in lighting used strictly for aesthetic purposes, increasing energy consumption.
- Appliances: The biggest energy users in this department are refrigerators and clothes dryers.
The ENERGY STAR label has historically been the standard for energy efficiency, and many green building programs and green homes still look for this label when selecting appliances. However, their standards for efficiency have not kept up with technology, and in some product categories, it is difficult to find appliances that do not carry that label. ENERGY STAR is common in dishwasher and washing machine appliances, and some refrigerators/freezers/wine coolers and microwave ovens also qualify for the label. ENERGY STAR does rate any other types of kitchen appliances, (except some induction cooktop models and range hoods).
Today, the best appliances on the market are now rated by the Consortium for Energy Efficiency (cee1.org). CEE rates appliances by tiers according to their total energy (and, as applicable, water) efficiency, currently as Tier I, II and III. The Tier III initiative, the “Super-Efficient Home Appliance Initiative” (SEHA), applies to qualified washers, refrigerators and dishwashers.
Although dryers use the most energy in the clothes cleaning department, they are not rated for energy efficiency by either ENERGY STAR or CEE. The best efficiency we can expect from a dryer, gas or electric, is to minimize its run cycle by reducing the amount of moisture that must be removed from the load. We do this by selecting a washing machine that does a good job of removing water from the clothes in the spin cycle.
- Smart Controls: We can use smart controls on individual circuits to reduce phantom or “vampire” loads and reduce our exposure to electromagnetic fields.
Plug-in smart power strips can be used to plug in various audio/visual/computer components. They work by having a master plug that controls the power to every device on the strip. For example, you plug in your home computer in the master plug socket. You then plug in your scanner, printer, fax and other office equipment associated with the computer into the rest of the plugs in the power strip. When the unit in the master plug (the computer in this example) is powered down, the strip cuts all power to the accessory devices so that they are truly off. These devices work well with TVs, cable boxes and surround sound systems that are used simultaneously. They are available either with an on/off switch for manual control or with a built-in sensor that shuts off power after some defined period of detecting no use. If you have the ability to address your wiring from scratch, the structured wiring approach should be considered, along with some type of ability to manage each of these circuits independently.
Smart electrical panel boxes are now available that can be configured to manage designated load circuits throughout your home, sensing when appliances on those circuits are not in use and shutting off all electrical power to them. Whole-house energy monitoring and management systems are still in their infancy, but many are already capable of combining smart technologies of occupancy sensor lighting, inactive circuit sensing and control and remote system controls. Phone and remote computer access allows users to adjust settings as real-life scenarios change. These technologies are advancing rapidly, so be sure to check out what components might be available as part of your overall home energy management plan on a new home as well as a remodeling project. If your project does not include a complete wiring redo, there are some add-on smart controls that you can purchase to help reduce those unwanted loads. Whole-house outlet control systems use plug-in communicating relays that can be controlled by one switch at the entry door to shut power on and off to designated outlets. Smart light switches that act as occupancy sensors by detecting motion can be installed to replace existing switches. Entryways, basements and hallways are best controlled by occupancy sensors, so lights come on upon entering and turn off upon exiting these areas, saving energy and improving safety. Programmable lighting systems reduce electric consumption related to forgetfulness and neglect.
