Grade 9 Science
Name: _________________________________
The Home Energy Audit
The purpose of the home energy audit is to make you more aware of the amounts of energy you and
your family consume, and how various appliances contribute to this energy use. You will also calculate
the costs of electricity use in your family, and will make suggestions to your parents/guardians
concerning ways to reduce your monthly bill.
For one week, you will be tracking the amount of energy used per day by reading the electric meter
outside your home. In addition, you will also be recording the daily use of four major appliances.
1) Create a table similar to the one below to record the electric meter.
Date
Initial Reading
(kWh)
Use in a Day
(kWh)
Day 1:
Day 2:
Day 3:
Day 4:
Day 5:
Day 6:
Day 7:
2) Determine the total weekly energy consumption of your home.
Using this value, determine the lowest possible cost of using this amount of energy (ie. All electricity
was used during off peak times), assuming that the current rate for electricity is $0.077 kW•h.
3) Select 4 appliances that use a lot of electrical energy. Find the power ratings of all four appliances
(these are found on a sticker attached to the appliance, or can be researched on-line). You must choose
appliances that consume a lot of electrical energy (these are usually ones that produce heat).
Monitor the four appliances in your home for one week and then complete the chart on the next page.
NOTE: Do not use an appliance that operates on a thermostat, like your fridge.
4) Use the information you discovered during your week-long audit and write a brief proposal to your
family, making suggestions about how to reduce their electricity bill. This letter should also refer to at
least one source that you researched in order to learn more about saving electricity in your home.
Power Rating (P)
Electrical
Appliance
Watts (W)
Kilowatts
(kW)
Time Used (t)
Per Day
(h)
Per
Month (h)
Energy
Use (E)
Per
Month
(kWh)
Cost
Per Month
($/kW•h)
off peak
x0.077
mid peak
x0.114
on peak
x0.14
off peak
x0.077
mid peak
x0.114
off peak
x0.14
off peak
x0.077
mid peak
x0.114
on peak
x0.14
off peak
x0.077
mid peak
x0.114
on peak
x0.14
Home Energy Audit Marking Scheme
1) Meter Readings
-
/4
cover one week period
additive values
use per day calculated correctly
use per day seems reasonable
2) Weekly Energy Consumption
-
calculation correct based on meter readings and rate
steps used to solve clearly shown
3) Appliances
4) Letter
5) Overall
-
/2
/8
four separate appliances monitored
amount of time seems accurate
cost calculated correctly for each
/ 10
suggestions for improvement and reasoning (minimum of three improvements with lots of
variety – ex. not simply turning off appliances and lights when not in use)
letter format used
length of ¾ to one page single-spaced
refers to some of the appliances audited in #3
at least one source referenced at the end of the letter using APA style
/6
cover page included
aesthetics, evidence of effort
marking scheme handed in attached to the front of the assignment
Application
/ 30
Communication
/ 10
(spelling, grammar, mathematical form, units)