Seeking HEMs to watch energy ghosts...

They drive away ghosts of a different kind - energy ghosts that silently gobble away power.

Meet the active group of 100-odd members of the Indian Association of Energy Management Professionals, which is currently engaged in galvanising individuals, organisations and the government to help them fulfil their ambitious mission of making India energy-independent by 2022 by coming up with innovative ideas, schemes and plans to audit and save energy.

"Our mission is to make India energy-independent by 2022 to coincide with India's platinum Independence celebrations. We hope to do it through a 15-year-long action plan chalked out for the purpose," Sunil Sood, president of the association said.

"We are currently focussed on making people aware of the ghosts that gobble up power at home without their knowledge", he said.

Elaborating further, he said: "Several consumers switch off their televisions through the remote but they forget that this still consumes power to the tune of six to nine watts. These are the ghost consumers of power. Fans working on the electromagnetic regulator consumes nearly 45 watts while a step regulator consumes just 18 watts for the fan running on the same speed."

The notion that a zero-watt bulb consumes hardly any power is highly misplaced, Sood said adding bulbs consume around 10-15 watts. Another instance of the energy ghost at work, he added.

"At the organisational level, it is employees leaving their computers on for hours together even when they were busy doing other work that did not require the computer. Switching off the monitors could help in saving energy. Keeping the refrigerator on the entire time even after the mercury level have dipped to freezing level is another example of futile energy consumption and energy ghosts at work," Sood said.

The association has come up with several energy saving ideas and have volunteered to conduct energy audits for individual households, companies or organisations to make them aware of the silent ghosts. "Ideally, the electric consumption in a household that does not have an air-conditioner or geyser should not cross 150 units per month. By keeping a check on the energy ghosts, the consumer could reduce energy consumption by 30-40%", he said.

The association is also pushing for ideas like the appointment of OEM (office energy manager), SEM (School Energy Manager) and HEM (House Energy Manager) where a single individual is specifically entrusted the job of checking the wasteful consumption of power. (PTI)