Power outages have affected all of us. All and sundry suffer from “lightless” Pakistan. But is this Pakistan “Powerless” too? (Power NOT being used in scientific terms)
I firmly believe each and every one of us has the capability to entice a change in our society, which might start from our very homes and transform into something bigger and effective if it multiplies. Hence, I tried carrying out a rough analysis of how many Pakistanis can save Pakistan from this crisis.
First let’s look into the Supply-Demand chart, which clearly shows when the consumption surpassed production (in previous governments regime). Holding this government responsible for the current crisis would not be very wise. Uncle Musharraf could not add a single MW, even when our demand significantly increased, why Uncle Commando Musharraf?
Now, let’s look at the consumption which shows majorly, we are using power for domestic/household use.
Let’s look at a rough chart of how much power appliances daily in our homes consume:
Lighting
60 watts 60-watt light bulb (incandescent)
18 watts CFL light bulb (60-watt equivalent)
5 Night light
0.5 LED night light
Computers
150-340 watts Desktop Computer & 17″ CRT monitor
1-20 watts Desktop Computer & Monitor (in sleep mode)
90 watts 17″ CRT monitor
40 watts 17″ LCD monitor
45 watts Laptop computer
Televisions & Videogames
340 watts 50-56″ Plasma television
260 watts 50-56″ LCD television
170 watts 50-56″ DLP television
270 watts 42″ Plasma television
210 watts 42″ LCD television
125 watts 32″ LCD television
55-90 watts 19″ CRT television
45 watts HD cable box
194 watts PS3
185 watts Xbox 360
70 watts Xbox
30 watts PS2
18 watts Nintendo Wii (source)
Other
1440 watts Microwave oven or 4-slot Toaster
900 watts Coffee maker
800 watts Range burner
4 watts Clock radio
Fans
55 watts 36″ ceiling fan (high speed)
24 watts 42″ ceiling fan (low speed)
AC’s
3500 watts Central Air Conditioner (2.5 tons)
1440 watts Window unit AC, huge
900 watts Window unit AC, medium
500 watts Tiny-ass window unit AC
750 watts Central AC fan (no cooling)
Now, without being a cynic, we all realize how carelessly we use energy. If we conserve energy, and instead of using 1 AC (for 2), 3 bulbs for 6, 2 fans for 4 and turning off other appliances not being used (in stand-by mood), we can save from 5-7 KW easily.
Our total shortage is approx. 4000 MW (4000000 KW), if 800000 houses save 5 KW we have 4000 MW, which of course would not justify this and previous governments mismanagement and poor planning, but would help in getting rid of load shedding to a great extent.
A 3.5 KW AC means approx 10-15 fans (depending upon fan speed and other fan specifications). Let’s look at it this way, 5 houses saving 5 KW would mean approx. 75 fans, which means over three dozen middle class and lower middle class homes sleeping well!
“Books of history still preserve, nations get leaders they deserve” – SAAZ
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