search articles:     from the issue of April 8, 2004         Burnett heating test doesn’t save money  BY KIRK CONGER, FACILITIES MANAGEMENT AND PLANNING A winter experiment using electricity to heat university buildings proved that theories don’t always work in reality.     The lights burn bright into the night at Burnett Hall during the February experiment to see if leaving the lights on at night would help heat the building. In February, Facilities Management and Planning tested the idea of using electricity to heat Burnett Hall at night. The impetus was the cost of energy sources. Currently, natural gas is unusually expensive, which makes the steam used to heat UNL buildings more expensive. At commercial rates, electricity is actually cheaper than gas during low-demand periods such as nights and weekends, especially during the winter. To take advantage of the price disparity, the Nebraska Utilities Corp., or NUCorp, suggested leaving on lights during the winter. That way, heat from the lights could warm the buildings and less steam heat would be needed. This strategy is used in southern states, where some office buildings are built with no heating systems and depend on lights and equipment for all building heat. While the theory is sound, no one knew how much the lights would actually increase air temperature in individual rooms. So Facilities conducted a two-week experiment in Burnett Hall, a typical office/classroom building with extra energy meters. For one week, Feb. 9-16, all the lights in the building were left on continuously, and the steam and electricity use were measured. Then a second week of measurements were taken from Feb. 16-23 and occupants were asked to turn off lights whenever they left a room. During the “lights-on” week, electricity use increased compared to the “normal” week while steam use decreased – both as expected. However, steam savings were not enough to balance the extra electricity cost; the net result was a 3 percent increase in total energy cost for the period. At least two factors prevented the suggested savings from being realized. First, thermostats in Burnett automatically switch to a low-energy mode overnight. In this mode, the thermostats don’t call for heat unless the room temperature falls below 57 degrees. Since thermostats were normally not calling for heat, the lights provided heat that the room didn’t really need. Second, the lights in Burnett are recessed in the ceiling, so much of their heat doesn’t go into the room itself but into the space above the ceiling. The study concluded that it is better to turn on lights when needed and turn them off otherwise. Facilities and NUCorp are investigating other ways to take advantage of cheaper, off-peak electricity. The most promising alternative appears to be adding an electric boiler in the power plant. This concept will be tested later this spring using a portable electric boiler. GO TO: ISSUE OF APRIL 8 NEWS HEADLINES FOR APRIL 8 Ritchie brings theories to life in the classroom Artist to install steel tree in garden Burnett heating test doesn’t save money Insect conference is April 16-17 in Lincoln Nature of Lewis, Clark is focus of symposium New Web site answers ag, food questions Rover engineer to speak at Astronomy Day event Unique plants can be found at Spring Affair Visit by Australian scholar to address autobiographies Volunteer creates 3D images of Mars 731679S33139X