Your

In this activity, you are going to perform an experiment to track the amount of power you and your family use, then look at some basic patterns in that usage. (NOTE: If you live in an apartment or home in which you do not have access to the electrical meter, consult with your instructor about alternative arrangements, like teaming with a classmate to gather this data.)

This experiment is going to span the course of a full week and require 12 meter readings. It really involves two separate experiments: tracking daily energy use for a week to compare any usage variations from day to day comparing a single high-usage period of a few hours with a single low-usage period of a few hours to help you identify the extremes in your household electrical use

You can easily do both experiments during the same period. This approach would be the easiest and fastest way to proceed. Read the instructions for both part 1 and part 2 if you wish to do both experiments at the same time.

To begin, you'll need to find your electric meter, which could be inside or outside of your home. Many electric meters these days are digital and pretty easy to read, but if you have an older "dial-type" meter, go to this electric meter reading guide to learn about how to read and understand it.

For each of the two experiments below, you will first record three simple pieces of data in a table: 1) the day and date, 2) the time, and 3) the kWh reading from the meter.

Then record the results of three simple calculations:

kWh used: Calculate kWh used since the last reading (subtraction).

Hours elapsed: Calculate the number of hours since the last reading (subtraction rounded to a whole number).

Average kW used: (kWh used)/(hours elapsed). If this number turns out to be 0.36, for example, it means that your average household power usage for the time period was about 360 watts, the equivalent of running six 60-watt bulbs for that whole time period.

Daily Electrical Usage: Data Collection

Pick a convenient time of day to take readings from your electric meter. You'll need readings roughly a day apart, but if they differ by only an hour or two, that should be fine. Pick a consistent time you'll remember, though, such as after getting home for the day. You need to start by doing an initial meter reading, then follow up with a reading every day for the next 7 days. You'll do 8 readings in all.

Record your readings in the tables below. In addition to the data fields described above, there is a lot of room for usage notes. Record anything that might have substantially affected the electrical usage since your previous reading. This might include the amount of time people were around and awake at home, use of specific devices such as an air conditioner, clothes dryer, TV, or lighting.

Type your response here:

Initial Reading
day & date
time
kWh reading

Day 1 Data	Usage notes (since last reading)
day & date
time
kWh reading
kWh used
hours elapsed
avg. kW used

Day 2 Data	Usage notes (since last reading)
day & date
time
kWh reading
kWh used
hours elapsed
avg. kW used

Day 3 Data	Usage notes (since last reading)
day & date
time
kWh reading
kWh used
hours elapsed
avg. kW used

Day 4 Data	Usage notes (since last reading)
day & date
time
kWh reading
kWh used
hours elapsed
avg. kW used

Day 5 Data	Usage notes (since last reading)
day & date
time
kWh reading
kWh used
hours elapsed
avg. kW used

Day 6 Data	Usage notes (since last reading)
day & date
time
kWh reading
kWh used
hours elapsed
avg. kW used

Day 7 Data	Usage notes (since last reading)
day & date
time
kWh reading
kWh used
hours elapsed
avg. kW used