[Phys-L] Re: Natural Gas vs Electricity - conserving energy

[edmiston at BLUFFTON.EDU (Edmiston, Mike)]

Ludwik mentioned non-working thermostats and people opening windows.

Some aspects of conservation are tricky, and others are obvious.  In my
original post I pointed out that right now, and in some areas where we
are currently in the heating season, you might actually save money by
leaving electrical things on all night because of its value as a heat
source.  That's interesting, and it might be true monetarily, but it's
not necessarily good energy conservation.  Even though good energy
conservation ought to give the same solutions as good financial
management, there are quirks.  When good energy conservation runs
counter to good short-term fiscal planning, we have a tough situation.

On the other hand, thermostats that don't work ought to be a no-brainer.
An organization that does not fix broken thermostats must be operating
with very high overhead in their maintenance department, or with people
who aren't thinking (or unfortunately too often... both).

I have yet an additional problem.  I am chair of the trustees at my
church, a fairly large building with many rooms.  We installed a new
computerized energy-management system, and it is being balanced and is
beginning to work well, but we are still in a struggle with people
opening windows and doing other things to thwart the system.  The
problem is differences in peoples' preference for temperature.

If we set a particular room's temperature to 68F, many people
(particularly older people, and also some women of any age) complain
about it being cold.  The trustees get verbal and written complaints
from elderly members about how we need to consider keeping them warm.
On the other hand, if we set the temperature at 70. or especially at 71
or 72 (where some demand it) we often find a window or two left open.

If we program the system to enable the +- slider on the thermostat so a
group of people meeting in a room can adjust the temperature in that
room up or down by 3 degrees from the set point of 68F, we always find
the slider at one extreme.  This means, for example, that when people
arrive in a room with the slider all the way down, and the temperature
is 65F, they slide it all the way up (which adjusts the set point to
71F) but they probably won't benefit unless they have a really long
meeting.  Instead, they are most likely unwittingly setting the
temperature to 71F for the next meeting... at which time those people
are likely to slide the slider down to 65F and even open some windows.

I told the trustees and the pastors that we should set it to 68F (when
occupied) and lock the windows and disable thermostat adjustments, and
let people who are cold wear more clothing.  The pastors told me I would
be viewed as an energy dictator and people would get angry.

At least I have some control in my own home... but my wife does call me
the energy dictator.

Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D.
Professor of Chemistry and Physics
Bluffton University
Bluffton, OH 45817
(419)-358-3270
edmiston@bluffton.edu