Start Date
7-1-2011 3:15 PM
End Date
7-1-2011 4:00 PM
Track
1. Track 1 – Formal Paper Presentation
Subject Area
Lodging
Faculty Member
Thomas Schrier schriert@iastate.edu
Abstract
Hotels are always looking for ways to cut costs and standby power creates an unnecessary expense for hotels through wasted electricity. As much as 10% of the power in residences is consumed by standby power and older appliances such as televisions are the largest consumers of standby power. The ENERGY STAR program has developed standards for standby power consumption to decrease the energy consumed in standby mode, however older appliances already in many hotels are not ENERGY STAR compliant. Rather than replacing all appliances, hotels must come up with other ways to reduce standby power consumption while considering the needs of customers. It would be easy if hotels could shutoff power to a room when the room is vacant, however multiple hotel rooms are on the same circuit breaker and the cost of a sophisticated energy management system outweighs the cost of standby power.
Keywords
Standby Power, Energy Management, Sustainability, Energy Conservation, Hotel Utilities
Is There a Vampire Lurking in Your Hotel? An Examination of Standby Power Consumption in Virginia Hotel Rooms
Hotels are always looking for ways to cut costs and standby power creates an unnecessary expense for hotels through wasted electricity. As much as 10% of the power in residences is consumed by standby power and older appliances such as televisions are the largest consumers of standby power. The ENERGY STAR program has developed standards for standby power consumption to decrease the energy consumed in standby mode, however older appliances already in many hotels are not ENERGY STAR compliant. Rather than replacing all appliances, hotels must come up with other ways to reduce standby power consumption while considering the needs of customers. It would be easy if hotels could shutoff power to a room when the room is vacant, however multiple hotel rooms are on the same circuit breaker and the cost of a sophisticated energy management system outweighs the cost of standby power.