Friday 13 September 2013

Saving Energy with Smart Switches while conserving environment


Energy Saved = Money Saved + Conservation



Why conserving Energy/Electricity is such a big need in India and or Globally. Here are the reasons and information that helps to understand the problem at hand and a simple solution.

Environment Conservation


While most of us have impression that Electricity is a cleaner form of Energy then fossil fuel, however we conveniently ignore the fact that majority of our Electricity is generated from the fossil fuel itself.




Energy Consumption


India stands way below the average per capita consumption of electricity worldwide, this is not because of judicial use of electricity but dues to the lack of availability of electricity to close to half of its population. Data collected in 2010 suggests an estimated 48% of rural households are yet to be electrified nationally; Bihar, Jharkand, and Orissa have electrified fewer than 35% of rural households large population.


 


In spite of this, power consumption for domestic use is very high

Cost of Generation


While the Electricity cost is increasing at the rate of 20 to 30% year on year, this gets passed on to the consumer in the form of increase in electricity bill every year.


Apart from the regular Electricity bill there is also a substantial increase in the cost of electricity produced locally using the Diesel Gen sets due to the ever increasing cost of the Diesel. This cost is estimated to be anywhere in the range of Rs 15 to Rs 20 per unit


Energy Conservation

Providing lighting only when needed is an easy and consistent way to save on the energy bills up to the tune of 80% specially for common areas. Areas like Staircase, corridor area, utility rooms, basements, garden (after a specific time), attics and parking facilities that are typically the areas where the movement or occupancy is limited. Most of these areas in an Apartment complex are lit up continuously between 12 to 24hrs depending on the day lighting available in these places. The cumulative lighting need at these places may be less than a hour in a day (depending on the utilization of the place).

A very basis solution to solving of turning the lights 'ON' or 'OFF' only when required can be achieved using Occupancy sensor switch or called as smart switch. These devices can control lighting while increasing the safety and comfort. And thus saving money by conserving energy. Energy efficient lighting is a long-term investment with a shorter payback period. There are various solutions that includes supply of a single component to all-inclusive lighting systems.

Underlying Technology

PIR (passive infrared) sensor reacts to body temperature in combination with motion. It provides light automatically when there is a requirement and it switches it 'OFF' automatically when there is no occupancy or movement.

Similar to PIR sensor is microwave/ Radar based sensors. These active Radar sensors react to all types of motion faster than PIR sensors do and are more sensitive to motion.

These PIR and Ultrasonic occupancy sensors seamlessly expand from a stand-alone, low-cost energy management system to include unlimited control possibilities. These can quickly be scaled to include lighting controls, remote management, load shedding using wired or wireless applications including WiFi, Z-wave and ISM band compatible access modules. These lighting solution could be made to further interface to your Property Management Software (PMS) and Building Automation Systems (BAS).

Payback period

Payback on this investment is calculated by means of savings achieved through the savings in electricity bill, cost saved with increase in the life of the lamp.

The basic solution could have a payback period anywhere between 1 to 2 years depending on the system selected and location of installation.


Pitfalls of Selecting wrong

There are various human presence sensor switches and lights available in the market. Most of them does the basic job of turning the light on and off initially. However the common problem with most of these sensors are

    • Lamps takes longer time to turn 'ON'
    • Lamps go bad often resulting in increase in expense on your lamps
    • Angle detection problem
    • Turns the light off inspite of human presence
    • Low quality parts used, shorten the life of the switch
    • Does not work well with CFL lights


About Me

I have been designing and developing Technology products and solutions for new age Homes since last 17 years. And currently promoting Smarter living solutions for South Asian homes. I have also setup first exclusive online store www.ifihomes.com focused towards the needs of Smart Homes for Indian consumers.

Website: www.ifihomes.com
Support: care@ifihomes.com

3 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Some of you have asked me question on how the costing works. Below information is for your better understanding.

    Cost of implementation depends on
    a) Quantity & Sensor model Selected
    b) Wiring & Installation Cost
    c) If any complete management system selected

    In case of Standalone sensor to manage individual light, it would be mainly "a" as the cost with small "b" cost

    While if same standalone sensor is used for turning multiple lights "ON", then wiring cost increases for sure however quantity of sensor would reduce. This would surely bring down the overall cost but depends on the elevation of common area and wiring of lights.

    Easy method of calculating total project cost is number of lights multiplied by the sensor cost (assuming 1 sensor per light, which is a worst case scenario). This would however give you some idea on upper limit for the numbers

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  3. Smart Livingis a trend encompassing advancements that give people the opportunity to benefit from new ways of living.

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