Griffith University,Australia

Energy
Audit
coopers Plain, QLD,
Australia

Submitted by:
Harneet Kaur
Goswami
S2961512
S2............

Gaurav

Energy audit

Table of Contents
1. Introduction:.......................................................................................................... 2
1.1 Background:....................................................................................................... 2
1.2 Scope:............................................................................................................... 2
1.3 Methodology:...................................................................................................... 2
1.4 Sources of Information and assumptions:................................................................3
1.5 Site Issues:......................................................................................................... 3
2. The site:............................................................................................................... 4
2.1 General description of the main appliances:.........................................................4
2.2 Heating and cooling:......................................................................................... 4
2.3 Hot water........................................................................................................ 4
2.4 Lightning......................................................................................................... 5
2.5 Personal computers:......................................................................................... 5
2.6 Stand by appliances:......................................................................................... 5
3. Energy Consumption:............................................................................................. 5
3.1 Seasonal patterns for energy use:.......................................................................6
3.2 Energy use by application.................................................................................. 8
3.3 Energy saving potential:........................................................................................ 9
3.4 Energy usage assumptions:................................................................................ 10
4. Audit measures and Calculations:..........................................................................10
4.1 Lightning:...................................................................................................... 10
4.2 Appliances:....................................................................................................... 10
5. Energy management Opportunities:.......................................................................11
6. Conclusion and Recommendations:.......................................................................11
Works Cited........................................................................................................... 11
Appendix..............................................................................................
........................................12

Energy audit

1. Introduction:
Home energy audit is assessment of home energy. This is a first step that helps to check
how much energy any house consumes and after evaluation required solution can be find to
make the house more energy efficient. (Dustin Mulvaney & Paul Robbins, 2011) .It includes
evaluating the actual utilization of electrical energy and solutions of conservation of energy.
Energy Audit helps to know about the areas where energy is wasted a lot and where
improvements can be done to save energy. (Jijo Balakrishnan1,AryaKrishnana. P2,, Joice
Joy3,Nibin K.N, Reshma Chandran5, 2016). A successful auditing job should make known to
the proprietor or administration team of the structure related to the options present for less
energy waste, involvement of the prices, and the advantages achievable from relating those
energy-management opportunities. (edwards, 2006)
1.1 Background:
To make the report of energy audit, an apartment in 925 Boundary Road COOPERS PLAINS
QLD 4108 was investigated. This house is approximately more than 20 years old. This
apartment consists of three bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchen, a living room, dining room,
a laundry and a garage. The number of residents in this house is two. The average electricity
bill of the apartment for last year is $550 for period of 90 days. According to the number of
people who are living in the property the usage of electricity and amount of power bills is so
high.
The main purpose of this report is to examine the maximum energy usage of the house. It is
important to reduce the usage of electricity and amount of electricity bills to save money and
electricity. So, after all the examinations it is important to find the measures for energy
reduction.
1.2 Scope:
This report includes the examination of maximum energy consumption of apartment located
in Cooper Plains. With the help of Lux meter and power meter the entire appliances and
lighting in the house was examined and data was collected. Hence, because of the issues of
access to the power points, some of assumptions were made in case of cooking stove, oven,
hot water system, air conditioner and automatic garage door. Some of the main objectives of
the report are mentioned below:
Calculation of energy consumption and electricity billing of various appliances and
lightning of house.
To figure out additional use of energy with the help of comparative analysis and to
draw energy use patterns.
To find out energy measurement opportunity and also provide some
recommendations.
Overall energy ad const saving and ensuring less GHG emission.

1.3 Methodology:
Energy audit is an assessment of current energy-use practices in a proper manner. It
measures how energy is handled and consumed (Energy Savings Toolbox An energy audit
3

Energy audit
tool and manual) Two tools Power meter and Lux meter were used to take all the reading for
the audit.
For the measurement of the efficiency of the lighting lux meter was used, that helps to
measure the intensity of the illumination. Light measurement and analysis is a crucial step
towards ensuring efficiency and safety. Power specification for lightning was normally
collaborated from the manufacturer specification. Power meter was used to determine the
power usage and power factor of all appliances. For some appliance it was hard to access
the power points, so power usage and power factor of such appliances was taken from
manufacturer specification and from the website of the manufacturer. Such appliances are
air conditioner, Oven, cooking stove and water heater. To ensure the accurate power
consumption, stand by usage of the devices was also considered. Electricity bills of last year
were also used to get the usage trend and costing and were compared with the audit
measurement to identify the difference. The use of total energy is divided into two various
seasons that are summer and winter, so it could be easy to measure the proper of usage of
cooling devices that are not being used in winter. Energy audit steps were followed as
instructed in the energy efficiency lecture notes with some adjustments where needed.
1.4 Sources of Information and assumptions:
The energy audit report consists from the assessment of different instruments with its power
consumption, data analysis from the power meter, manufacturers data, daily seasonal
usage, average running time and idle time. The energy audit report is also made by the help
of the lux meters for lightning measurement and power meter for other appliances.
The use of different appliances may vary according to time and seasons. The experimental
data was measured during different time and pick uses and also power consumption at
standby mode. The period of when the measurements were taken was the March to April
when the all instruments can be used for daily need. The certain assumptions were made
when some instruments were hard to access through the measurement device. The
assumptions are made for appliances such as water heating pump, cooking hot plate, ceiling
fans and garage door. The air-conditioning system is working on three phase high power
consuming devices and due to direct connection was given; the data couldnt be recorded by
power meter.
1.5 Site Issues:
The house which was chosen for energy audit is located at Coopers Plains, Brisbane. This
home has facilities of three bedroom, one bathroom, kitchen, living room, dining room,
laundry and garage. The measurements of the many different instruments were taken but
due to lack of the other measuring devices, it was unable to get readings of all instruments.
Moreover, some appliances are directly connected to the power source without any power
socket which were impossible to get measured. Few appliances cannot be measured
because of unable to approach by measurement devices.

Energy audit
2. The site:
The report of the energy audit is done for a three bedroom house situated in Cooper Plains
that is approximately 20 years old but it has been refurnished recently with some new
appliances. This house consists of three large size bedrooms; each bedroom has at least
two power points, one bathroom, a living room, laundry, a study and a garage. The number
of people living in this apartment is two and both are adults.
2.1 General description of the main appliances:
There are number of electrical appliances in the house and that are further divided into two
categories. First are the high consuming devices like Air conditioning system, Vacuum, iron
and washing machines. The other is low power consumer devices such as phone charger,
laptop, hair straighter, fans, and lights etcetera.
Al l devices have their own operational time like refrigerator it operates 24/7 in the house and
iron that is rarely used but consumed a huge amount of electricity even in the standing
mode. Some of the high operational time devices are freezers, router, lights, fans, and
television. A few of the devices are low operational time are washing machine, hair dryer,
vacuum and sandwich maker. In everyday life most of the appliances that are used in the
house are appliance of kitchen that consume most of the energy like refrigerator, microwave,
oven, dishwasher, sandwich maker, food processor and hand grinder. During weekdays
normally in the morning most of the appliances are switched off because no one stays at
home in the mornings, except some stand by appliances. Moreover, these stands by
appliances also need to be considered, whose power consumption cannot be ignored.
Whereas, there are some lights and appliances that continuously run in evening everyday
like lights of lobby and appliances such as Televisions and setup box, fan and sound bar.
There is also some stand by devices which draws a small amount of power. Some examples
of stand by devices are automatic door garage, TV, laptops, printer, and setup box etcetera.
2.2 Heating and cooling:
On average most of the energy, approximately 40 percent of the energy used at home is for
heating and cooling. The amount of energy is depending on the circumstances and climate.
(Your energy saving, 2016)
This site has major cooling appliance that is air conditioner. There are two air conditioners in
this house; one is in lobby and other is in the main bed room. Both the air-conditioned
normally used in the season of summer; especially in the afternoons that is the hottest part
of the day in the summer season. Sometime in the winter days, during the afternoon air
conditioner runs in the house. The air conditioner of the main bedroom runs almost every
night of the summer season. This house has reverse cycle air conditioners, as it helps to
increase the efficiency by 5 % to 15%. (Your energy saving, 2016) .
2.3 Hot water
In the house, the hot water source which is operated by electricity was installed six years
ago. The power factor and power measurement is not possible due to direct connection. The
data of consumption of hot water and power consumption is assumed by the Ausgrid for four
adults and one child. (Ausgrid, 2014)The use of hot water in the house is regular every day
for various purposes such as laundry, cooking and shower. Due to regular uses of hot water
every day, hot water is the major source of electricity consumption in the house. The

Energy audit
electricity consumption of hot water source quarterly is around 360 KWh for the three adults
and one child uses.
2.4 Lightning
The range of lighting system differs as per the requirement and size of the place to be used.
The fluorescent bulbs of 23 watts for two bedrooms and for one bedroom one 18 watts bulb
have been in application. In the third bedroom, fluorescent circular tube is in use, as the third
room is smaller than other two rooms. The other high application of lighting area is kitchen
which covers significant area and it has facility of one fluorescent tube of 16 watts and 16
watts bulb is in use. The other areas such as parking, garage, dining, laundry, bathroom and
entrance of the house have different wattages lights. The annual cost of lightning system is
around $50-80 in the house.
2.5 Personal computers:
There is one desktop computer and two laptops in use in the house. The desktop computer
consumes more electricity than the laptop device but it is not frequently used at the home.
Laptop has been using regularly almost every day. The personal desktop computer also has
auxiliary music 5:1 system which also consumes more electricity but it is not use so often.
The uses of desktop computer can consume around 250 watts which may result far more
consumption as compared to laptop which is around 50-60 watts maximum. On the other
hand, on standby mode, desktop computer can consume electricity around 3-5 watts. The
quarterly consumption of electricity is around $110 when frequent uses of desktop.

2.6 Stand by appliances:

Standby uses of appliances can also make lots of difference to the annual cost of bill. In
house, there are several devices can be put on standby many hours in idle condition which
can drag power and contributes increase billing cost as well as affect the environment. There
are numerous stand by devices such as T.V, microwave, desktop computer, laptops, music
system, washing machine, printer. The standby power can contribute up to 10% to the total
energy cost. The total standby consumption is around 25 KWh approximately.
3. Energy Consumption:
The energy consumption of the house as well as the associated costs, based on the
electricity bills could be summarised below in the table:
Period

Average
consumption
per day(KWh)

Total Quarterly
consumption
(KWh)
2061

Quarterly
Cost(KWh price
service fee inc
GST)$
543.32

Estimated
greenhouse gas
emissions
(tonnes)
1.90

Feb 2015-April
2015
May 2015-July
2015
Aug 2015-Oct
2015
Nov2015Jan2016

20.45
18.81

1941

496.96

1.82

12.03

1472

441.09

1.69

23.60

2263

584.66

2.30

Energy audit
Feb 2016-April
2016

22.15

2176

559.80

2.18

Table:1

3.1 Seasonal patterns for energy use:

It is depicted from tables and figures that there are variations in energy consumption, cost
and gas emission in various periods, whereas at its peak in summer season. The reason
behind it could be the more use of cooling system and appliances. Some other factors also
affect the consumption habits and use of appliances in peak and off periods of time.

Chart Title
2500
2000
1500
1000

Series 3

500
0

Figure 1

Energy audit

Chart Title
25
20
15
10

Series 3

5
0

Figure 2

Figure 3

Chart Title
600
500
400
300
Series 3

200
100
0

Figure 3

Energy audit

Chart Title
2.5
2
1.5
1

Series 3

0.5
0

Figure 4

3.2 Energy use by application

The consumption of energy by all the application sometimes varies according to the
seasons, but overall consumption by various applications in a year are given below in the
table: The energy use by some applications like Air conditioner and fans could be different in
summer seasons and energy use by heaters and hot water could be more in winter season.
The calculations given in the table are based on the assumptions whereas actual readings
taken by the lux meter and power meter are given in the attached appendix.

Usage

Consumption
123.624

Percentage use
5%

1000.42

39%

773.56

28%

636.41

23%

183.38

7%

Lightning
Major appliances
Hot water
Cooling
Stand by
2717.394
Total

Energy audit

Consumption of energy by different applications

Stand by; 7% Lightning; 5%

Cooling; 23%
Major appliances; 37%

Hot water; 28%

Figure 5

It is crystal clear from the given pie chart of consumption of energy by different applications
that most of the energy is consumed by major appliances such as refrigerator, Washing
machine, Vacuum cleaner etcetera. Secondly, hot water and cooling consume approximately
equal energy, where application of cooling consumes 23% of energy, hot water application
consumes 28%. Stand by and lightning consumes very low energy with 7% of stand by and
5% of lightning.

3.3 Energy saving potential:

In house, energy saving areas where it is an opportunity to reduce the waste of electric
energy is check insulation inspects cooling/heating equipment, light sources and appliances.
The construction of house is considerably old and there is few heat losses can be
considered during inspection. The efficient air conditioning system depends upon the area
with no or minor loss of cold/hot air but due to old construction heat leakages are quite more
so air condition takes more electricity to maintain certain temperature. The hot water system
also old age system and it create pressure and temperature loss which can be reduced by
maintenance. Many appliances energy consumption may depend on the handling and
maintaining. The major energy saving potentials in the house are proper insulation for air
leakages and hot water system. Lighting system is also can affect the electricity bills if it is
not energy saving incandescent (Energy.Gov energy saver)

10

Energy audit

3.4 Energy usage assumptions:

In this audit, the data which was evaluated is more relevant to past information and bills.
Many instruments are directly connected to the power supply without socket so there are few
assumptions were made. The stand by time and running hours are approximately as per day
uses. Some of the data is directly come from the manufacturers data sheet as limited
instruments were given.

4. Audit measures and Calculations:

4.1 Lightning:
The lighting system in the house had been measured by lux meter in all areas. The efficient
lighting system can support human eyes to work and see the things as per the requirement
of the place. The light is useful and pleasant when it is properly spread into the entire area
not just at one place. The proper lighting system is when it spread effective illumination level
at the table height. The different areas in the house have different lighting level. Some
specifications are only available from manufacturers website or assumed. The list of the
lighting system and required lux is given at the appendix table-1.
4.2 Appliances:
There are number of appliances at home. There were some accessible appliances whereas
there were also some inaccessible appliances, whose sockets were hard to find to take the
readings and collect the data. So some assumptions were made and few data is gathered
from internet for them. There are also some appliances that left turn on and always draw
some power like microwave, Television, setup box etcetera and even some type of small
lights that indicate that appliance is on. Some time there is no light on but it still some power
can be drawn like washing machines. It can be said that in this audit some important
plugged in appliance are considered. The list of the appliances with reading is given in the
appendix. There are many appliances that are used in everyday like microwave, food
processor, PC, television, refrigerator etcetera and some used just once or twice in a week
like vacuum cleaner, hair dryer, and iron etcetera. There are also some power tools that
hardly used once or twice in a year. The readings and measurement s are taken with help of
power meter and all the data is collected. There were some appliance like fridge, microwave,
tv etcetera for which it was easy to take the measurements, but there were some like air
conditioner, hot water system point and air conditioner whose data is normally collected from
internet from the website of the product. This way was adopted because without help of a
professional electrician it was not easy to take measurement of these inaccessible
appliances so this was the easiest and safest method.
5. Energy management Opportunities:
Energy management opportunity is a method to represent the way to use the energy wisely
and properly so that money can be saved and impacts on environment can be controlled.
(Konstantin Vikhorev, Richard Greenough ,Neil Brown, 2013) The best way to figure out and
11

Energy audit
implement EMOS is strategic energy management plan that contains all the information
regarding energy like purpose to use energy, amount and type of energy used. This helps to
find out the opportunities to reduce the consumption of energy and implementation of the
plan to save money and energy.
From the audit some EMOs are identified and that are discussed below:
1. The Air conditioner should be turn off immediately after use, it can save huge amount
of energy.
2. Make sure when air conditioner is working all the doors and windows should be
closed properly. It could waste energy.
3. Instead of AC fan should be used more and maximum natural ventilation is best idea
to save energy.
4. AC and dust filter should be cleaned regularly.
5. Use minimum lights during the day, windows should be opened and use sunlight
instead of light.
6. Always turn off the unnecessary light to save energy.
7. Always unplug the chargers and adapters when the equipments are not used like for
printer, personal computers, and microwave etcetera.
8. The exterior house lights should be turn off when it is not required.
9. LED lights should be used at home; it could save up to 70% of the energy.
10. Always turn off the TV, it can save standby power up to 12%.
11. Always turn off washing machine immediately after washing clothes. It can also save
some amount of energy.
12. Use vacuum cleaner just once in fortnightly, it can save maximum energy.
13. Installation of solar water can be helpful for energy saving.
14. A huge amount of energy is wasted when the appliance are on stand mode so
always the appliances should be turned off when they are not in use.

6. Conclusion and Recommendations:

Works Cited
(n.d.).
Annette Muetze, Ying C.Tan. (2007). Electric Bicycles, a performance evaluation.
IEEE industry application magzine , 12-21.
Ausgrid. (2014). Retrieved may 14, 2016, from ASP level 1:
http://www.ausgrid.com.au/Common/Industry/Accredited-service-providers/ASPLevel-1.aspx#.Vzu_WpF97IU
Dustin Mulvaney & Paul Robbins. (2011). Energy audit. In J. Harrington, Green
Energy (pp. 124-126). SAGE Publications, Inc. .
12

Energy audit
edwards, P. (2006). Level one energy audit for unclosed site. Energy focus .
Energy Savings Toolbox An energy audit tool and manual. Canada: CIEPC.
Energy.Gov energy saver. (n.d.). Retrieved may 14, 2016, from Do it yourself
energy audits: http://energy.gov/energysaver/do-it-yourself-home-energy-audits
Jijo Balakrishnan1,AryaKrishnana. P2,, Joice Joy3,Nibin K.N, Reshma Chandran5.
(2016). Energy Auditing: A Case Study. International Journal of Advanced
Research in Electrical, Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering , 2278
8875.
Jonathan Weinert, Chaktan Ma, Christopher Cherry. (2007). The transition to
electric bikes in china: history and key reasons for rapid growth. Transportation ,
301-318.
Konstantin Vikhorev, Richard Greenough ,Neil Brown. (2013). Advanced energy
framework to promote energy awareness. Journal of cleaner production , 103112.
T. F. Chan,Lie-Tong Yan,Shao-Yuan Fang. (2002). In-Wheel Permanent-Magnet
Brushless dc Motor Drive for an Electric Bicycle. IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ENERGY
CONVERSION , 229-233.
woodford, C. (2007). Electric bicycles. Retrieved from
http://www.explainthatstuff.com/electricbikes.html
Your energy saving. (2016). Retrieved april 30, 2016, from Australian
Government, department of industry, innovation and science:
http://yourenergysavings.gov.au/energy/heating-cooling/understand-heatingcooling

13

Energy audit

Appendix:

location

Type of light

Number

Front
Entrance
main door
Living room

Compact
Fluorescent
Lamp
T5 Fluorescent
LampCircline
Compact
Fluorescent
Lamp
T 8 White
Fluorescent
tubes
Circline
Fluorescent
Lamp
Circline
Fluorescent
Lamp
Circline
Fluorescent
Lamp
Circline
Fluorescent
Lamp
Compact
Fluorescent
Lamp
Compact
Fluorescent
Lamp
Compact
Fluorescent
Lamp
T 8 White
Fluorescent
tubes
Compact
Fluorescent
Lamp

Kitchen and
dining room
combined

Small room
Master
bedrom
Second
bedroom
Third
bedroom
Bathroom
Kitchen door
(Rear)
Laundry
Garage
Backyard
total

LUX

11

Total
max W
11

40

Required
LUX
45

23

23

115

150

16

39

170

200

23

16

16

70

90

23

23

135

130

23

23

135

110

16

16

80

90

20

20

75

75

14

14

70

60

16

16

65

60

14

14

75

75

14

14

55

60

14

229

14

Energy audit
Table:1

Location

Appliances

Usage(w)

Current(AMP)

Power factor

Kitchen

Refrigerator
stand mode:

141.2

0.61

98

169.4

0.70

98

SM

0.6

100

RM

1547.1

6.83

95

SM

0.0

100

RM

825.4

3.41

100

0.0

100

109.4

4.50

100

SM

100

RM

100.9

0.47

87

0.0

0.03

01

101.7

0.40

98

SM

100

RM

116.3

0.63

75

Oven

3000

16.29

68

0.9

0.01

37

297.5

2.66

77

Running mode:
Microwave

Toaster

Sandwich
maker
SM
RM
Dishwasher

Food processor
SM
RM
Range hood

Laundry room

Washing
Machine
SM
RM

Living Room

55

inch

LED
15

Energy audit
Television
SM

0.2

0.05

100

RM

155.0

0.58

94

SM

0.3

0.04

100

RM

20

0.07

78

Air-conditioned

1547

6.87

93

0.0

100

96.2

0.43

97

SM

0.1

0.01

100

RM

1876.5

7.79

100

SM

6.9

0.03

40

RM

9.7

0.26

46

0.1

0.02

02

60.5

0.55

45

SM

0.1

0.01

100

RM

1876.5

7.79

94

SM

100

RM

36.3

0.14

100

SM

100

RM

25.9

0.10

100

SM

100

RM

6.43

0.06

100

Set up box

Washroom

Hair straighter
SM
RM
Hair dryer

Rooms

Printer

Laptop charger
SM
RM
Iron

Fan

Table lamp

Phone charger

Vacuum

16

Energy audit
SM

0.0

100

RM

1916

8.12

96

Wi-Fi router

5.5

0.45

63

Air conditioner

1456

5.79

90

Personal
computer

200

0.87

90

Table:2 major appliances usage readings

:Location

Type of
Appliances

Usa
ge
(W)

Est
oper
ating
Time
(Hrs)

Est
oper
ating
Time
(Min
)

Daily
operat
ing

Daily

Consumption

Consum
ption

Of

time

3 months

(Wh)

(Wh)

(Hrs)

Living
Room

55 LED
Television

2.1

10

21

1890

Bedroom

Music
System

1.2

15

15

18

1620

Kitchen

Microwave
oven

2.8

18

35

27

75.6

6804

Bedroom

Desktop
computer

2.5

12

15

15

37.5

3375

Laptop

30

45

15

15

1350

Washing
machine

3.2

19

25

21

67.2

6048

Other
Devices

2.2

22

40

22

48.4

4356

Laundry

Total

25443 w

Total KWh

25.443KWh

Table:3 stand by appliances measurements

Locatio
n

Type of
Applianc
es

Usag
e

Loa Est
d%
opp

17

Est
opp
Tim

Dail
y
opp

Daily

90

Consumpti

Days

Energy audit

(W)

Bathroo
m

Hot
water

160.
92

Tim
e
(Hr
s)

e
tim
(Min e
)
(Hr
s)

24

144
0

Total
(Kwh)

24

on
(Wh)

Consumpti
on
(Wh)

4387.08

436787.20
436.78

Table 4: Hot water estimates

18