Calculation of needs
In designing the system, we work to match the electricity that a turbine can generate with the household's electricity needs. We calculate the power consumption of the household by adding the energy consumption all of the loads.
Loads are items that use electricity such as appliances such as TVs, washing machines, radios, kettles, light bulbs, electric heaters etc. The total demand of all of the loads in kWhs is calculated by examining the item itself (by looking at the specification printed on the product itself) or by referring to the manufacturers' literature. This gives us the power rating in Watts (W) or kiloWatts (kW).
We also need to know the amount of time each item is used per day/week/month. Using the power rating and the time information we can work out the demand of each item in kWh units.
We also make use of data from the household ESB bills to have a more accurate idea of the demand. BEO also provide a full energy auditing service. To assist you, we have also measured a range of typical household appliances for their energy use and related them to an ESB bill as follows:
Some additional utilities which, if used, will add to your bill are also described below.
With detailed information on how energy is being used in the house, the household may decide that energy saving improvements be made to reduce the overall demand.
The most obvious improvement is changing all of the light bulbs from incandescent bulbs to low energy compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs). Using CFLs instead of ordinary incandescent bulbs will save you approximately 80% electricity on lighting. CFLs also last 15 times longer than ordinary light bulbs, and can save you up to €170 over the life time of the bulb.
By reducing the demand, you not only save money on electricity but will require a smaller (and therefore cheaper) turbine.