FAQs

Hey y'all,

Here are some FAQs about Battle of the Bulbs. If you have any more, just comment here or shoot me an email at wwgu44@gmail.com

Hope your first week of energy reduction was good. Remember, 5% is Week 1's goal!

What can I actually save electricity on?

-Anything that plugs into an outlet (e.g. cell phone charger, laptop charger, TVs all draw “vampire power”)

-Turn off lights in dorm rooms and common areas and lounges (in Snell and BJ, you can also turn off hallway lights; there is no way to turn off the hallway lights in Max)

-Laundry (also cost-effective to fill up a load; or hang-dry your clothes!)

What about South Campus?

-New baselines were for all dorms from April 12-18 and April 19-25, averaged over both weeks.

Why can’t we split up the Max dorms?

-Now we can because new meters were just installed for each subdivision. South Campus, unfortunately, is one big building divided between West and East in name only.

How does heat control affect power usage?

It doesn’t show up in the meter for the building – but it still reduces the campus’s overall electricity usage if you turn off the A/C or heat when you don’t need it! For building systems such as air handling systems and exhaust fans, which are constant and run all the time, our usage has no effect on them.

How does cooling affect power usage?

It also doesn’t show up in the meter for the building, but – see above.

What about the rumor that Snell-Hitchcock’s electricity reading was higher due to construction of Searle a couple years back?

That is untrue. The electricity used by the construction site came from an upstream source because that is more reliable, whereas Snell is a downstream source of power. Same goes for Max P West and the new wing of the Reg.

Could lowering energy costs lower room and board?

No, have you met our administration? Just kidding. Room and board is a combination of a number of factors, and the greatest chunk of room and board comes from paying salaries for staff and facilities employees (janitors, receptionists), as well as debt repayment (e.g. from paving the quad, installing the sprinkler system). It is highly doubtful that reduction in electricity consumption in the dorms would make a significant impact in the University’s electricity costs overall.

Send any other questions our way!

Thanks,

Willy