Abstract:
The electricity consumption patterns of 61 households selected from
Matara, Anuradhapura, Rathnapura, Nuwaraeliya and Kaluthara were
studied using the monthly meter readings and calculating the energy
consumption of equipment using their power ratings. Data were collected
from each household using a questioner filled by undergraduates through
discussions with residents and monitoring. The software package
“MINITAB” was used for the analysis of data.
About 90.2% of households use less than 120 kWh of electricity per month
in a household of average four residents and average monthly usage of all
61 households is about 72 5 kWh (93 kWh and 39 kWh with and without
refrigerators). A significant fraction of energy is consumed (51 kWh or
55%) by refrigerators. By selecting refrigerators with lower capacity (100-
200 L in compared with 200-300 L) and defrost technology could save
about 9% and 18.5% of energy consumption, respectively. Opening the
door less number of times (less than 5 times a day in compared with 15
times) could save significant amount (17 %) of energy consumed by
refrigerators. Keeping the refrigerator filled only with necessary things
helps to reduce the wastage. Some consumers save about 33% of energy
consumed by refrigerators by keeping them turned off 9 hours in the night
time. LED TV could save about 26.6% of energy used by a CRT TV.
Replacing all incandescent lamps in a household by CFLs save about 63%
of lighting energy, however in the sample studied 35% of lamps used are
still incandescent. Fans (10.3 kWh, 14.3%), Televisions (8.2 kWh, 11.4%)
and Rice Cookers (7.5kWh, 10.4%) use more monthly electricity in
compared with other household appliances in the sample studied, which has
no Air Conditioner users. The study shows that there is a possibility to save
significant amount of electrical energy used in a typical household
