My son's first science project..

As promised here is the report of award winning science project.
It is surprise to see that most of the appliances when they are off and still plugged into the wall consume anywhere between 0 and 3 watts of energy. which is not a lot. especially modern laptops and cellphone chargers which comes with switch mode power supplies are more efficient in reducing the power when the appliance is turned off (0Watt). So we don't need to unplug them everyday. I believe the same technologies will extend to the modern TV and new appliances, as we move away from cathode ray tube monitors.
Please read the report and give me feedback. Also scientists out there keep in mind this is a kindergarten project!

Energy usage and wastage of home appliances

PROBLEM STATEMENT

How much electricity is used and wasted when an appliance is on and off.

HYPOTHESIS

I think lots of electricity and money is wasted when an appliance is plugged in to the wall outlet and not used. It is because the appliance is plugged all the time.

RESEARCH

From the research from internet it was written that lot of energy is wasted when the appliance is plugged into the wall and not used. Some appliances waste as much as 10% electricity even when they are turned off. I like to measure the energy used and see how much is wasted when the appliance is not used.

LIST OF VARIABLES

Manipulated variables

Appliance on

Appliance off

Appliance standby

Responding variable

Energy used

Controls

Constant electricity

Same meter

MATERIALS NEEDED

Energy meter

Appliances:

Old computer

Laptop computer

Old TV

New TV

Printer

CD player

Cell phone charger

PROCEDURE

1. Plug the energy meter in the wall outlet.

2. Plug the appliance in the meter

3. Take the energy measurement reading when ON, Off, and Standby conditions.

4. Repeat the measurements for all appliances.

RESULTS

Energy used by various appliances

APPLIANCE	ENERGY USED(WATTS)
	ON	OFF	STANDBY
NEW TV	301	1	274(screen saver)
OLD TV	88	1	1
LAPTOP	31	0	0
OLD COMPUTER	114	1	40(screen saver)
PRINTER	15	1	1
CD PLAYER	4	3	3
CELL PHONE CHARGER	2	0	0

CONCLUSIONS

1. The new TV uses lot more energy (301 Watts) than the old TV(88 Watts) because it is big.

2. The laptop computer uses less energy(31Watts) than old computer(114 Watts) because it is small.

3. All the appliances use way less (0-3 Watts) energy when they are turned off and they are still plugged into the wall.

4. Turning off the appliance is better than keeping it in standby for some appliances.

Conclusion statement

The appliances do not waste lot of energy when they are turned off even though they are plugged into the wall. This does not support the hypothesis.

Precautions taken

Always use an adult to plug and unplug appliances.

Lessons learned by this project.

Turning off lights and appliances when not needed will save lot of energy and money.

Turn off the computer after every use.

Hello there...

This is my first time starting a blog , inspired by one of my friend. I like to discuss more about creating a spark in the young kids about science and technology. This idea came to me from working with my son's Science project. By the way i am not bragging , he won first place in Plano District science fair. :). My son who is six years old, in kindergarten. The project was his first science project. Me and my son brainstormed to come up with the project idea. This came from my son, when i asked him to turn off the computer after use. He asked me why he should do that. I told him otherwise it will waste lot energy. He kept on asking more questions like what is energy, electricity, power etc.. It was amazing to see how kids of such young age are curious about knowing anything. Well that's how we got the idea to measure power consumption of each appliance at home to see which consumes most, and why. Also we wanted to see if the appliance wastes any energy if it is off but still plugged into the wall outlet. The project was a success. I will post the details and pictures in my next blog.

But the point here is can we create a spark in young kids about science and technology. YES WE CAN (thanks to OBAMA). I could see from my six year old, how fast they can understand concepts of science and technology.

I like all of you give your feedback on this. My next project is to start a Science club here in Plano to encourage creativity using science and technology. Keep me posted.