For people living in India it is a common phenomenon that electricity often breaks down either in day or at night. Problem is less in winters but very hectic during summers. Many people spend endless hours during the summers without electricity.
What is responsible for the electricity breakdown ??
A number of possible reason are responsible for electricity breakdown but a few are listed here :
Insufficient electricity generation : India is one of the few nation with problem of insufficient electricity generation. India do not have enough power generation plant to produce enough electricity. Most of the power generation plant are thermal or hydel based which cannot produce sufficient electricity. Nuclear power plant are few in numbers.
Ever-growing electricity consumption : With India continuously progressing with growing urbanization and industrialization the demands of electricity has increased by leaps and bounds. More and more electricity consumed by household and industries leading to shortage of electricity.
Introduction of new electrical gadgets : Washing machines, dish washers, modern computers, mobile phones, geysers and modern Television has emerged with growing lifestyle. Use of such gadget are also responsible for electricity shortage.
Bad Internal wiring and theft of electricity : Many electricity have very cheap electrical circuiting which could result in short-circuiting and hence retardation of electricity supply. Also some people try to physically connect wires to electrical poles or live overhead wires to illegally steal electricity. This sometimes leads to overload and electricity breakdown.
Wastage electricity : Most of the Indians don't care about the importance of electricity. They waste the precious electricity by using bulbs instead of CFLs or using new electrical gadgets again and again carelessly. They don't know the harm that they cause to others as well as the environment. Even Inverters are not a good idea !!, Inverters are a way to take away electricity from others by storing it in huge capacities batteries.
10 best way to save electricity
- Never waste electricity. Turn off lights and electrical appliances when not in use. For example switch off TV or computer when not in use. Specially never leave computer in stand by mode. Lessen the use of mobile phones.
- Use CFL( Compact Fluorescent Light) or Tube Light for lighting purposes. They help to save over 75 % of electricity over a conventional bulbs.
- During summers, prefer to use fan or coolers instead of Air conditioners. ACs consumes a lot of electricity, use of fans and coolers help save electricity.
- In winters, lessen the use of Room heaters. Use another blanket instead of its place.
- Use Power efficient 5-star rated appliances. The more star rated the appliance is the more you can save electricity.
- Use geysers consciously. Never leave a geyser running even after the shower. Use Solar heaters instead.
- Close the door of your fridge. Never leave it open. This way you can also contribute to save environment.
- Switch to alternate electrical source such as solar power. Use of solar panel can generate electricity to run TV or low power devices almost at no cost!
- Turn of lighting outside the home after 12 midnight. You can save several watts of electricity by this.
- Try natural lighting. Open all doors and window in the day time instead of using lighting appliances.
There are million possible way to save electricity. Keep experimenting with these. Don't limit this to your Science Project only !!.