My hypothesis is they use more energy, like our TVs and other electronics that dutifully wait in standby until we power them up the rest of the way.
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15 years ago
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Motion sensor vs Manual control?
Hey all - something I've been wondering about lately is the energy use associated with motion sensor devices (lights, faucets, dryers, toilets) vs. manual. It is my understanding that one of the reasons these are installed is to save resources - water and electricity - but wonder if there is any documentation out there that demonstrates they do. Anyone know of reputable sources evaluating this?
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Obviously, it highly depends on whether or not anyone uses the manual control to shut things off, and you can find a study on this subject out there to support either answer.
ReplyDeleteBut to your specific point about the usage of stand-by power, I think it varies quite a bit by appliance. In general, motion detectors and light sensors use very little, so if they can save an hour of usage a day I believe they end up as a benefit. This is just from my own research with a kill-a-watt tester at my house. On the other side, standby on the computer is often a large drain.
This is one of the areas that I believe technology will end up fixing, as power companies are turning to non-intrusive load monitoring for getting info to consumers, and other projects like google power meter take off.
And then, you know, the whole peak oil thing gets going.
I imagine it is something that could be studied in a building that took careful measurement before switching to auto sensors.
ReplyDeleteI am often in a building where the faucets are on auto detection - some of them turn on just by walking past the sink (and of course, refuse to turn on when I'd like to wash my hands). I imagine there is a lot of variance, and adherence to best practices/settings could make a large difference.