Save a Watt Advanced Activity
Background
Need a raise in your allowance? Here’s a
great way to get one, and it won’t cost your
parents anything extra: Just get them to
agree to pay you the difference if you can
reduce your family’s energy use. This activity
will take three months to complete.
Ask your family to commit to saving energy
for three months. (Some energy-saving tips
are listed on the right; your local energy
utility can provide others.)
Keep your energy bills for those three
months, and compare your energy use
to what your family used during the same
months of the prior year. Some utilities
provide last year’s usage on your current
bill for you to compare. If the information
is not on the bill, ask your parents for last
year’s energy bills or call your energy
company and ask for the information.
Create a graph to illustrate the difference
between how much energy you used during
the three-month period in the prior year and
the current year.
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|
This Year
|
Kilowatt Hours
(or Therms) Used |
Price per Kilowatt Hour
(or Therm) |
Month 1
|
|
Month 2 |
|
Month 3 |
|
Last Year
|
Kilowatt Hours
(or Therms) Used |
Price per Kilowatt Hour
(or Therm) |
Month 1
|
|
Month 2 |
|
Month 3 |
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If energy rates increased since the prior year, your bill may be higher, but energy saved will
still show up in fewer kWh or therms used. Multiply the number of kWh or therms you saved
by the current cost per kWh or therm, and ask your parents to pass the dollar savings on
to you!
Note: If this year’s energy-saving efforts did not reduce your energy usage compared to the
prior year, try to identify factors that may have caused more or less energy use during each
of the months you are studying (such as hotter or colder weather, extra overnight guests,
vacations, adding appliances or landscaping, and changing work or school schedules.)
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