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The Berman family makes a habit of turning off the Xbox and the TV after playing FIFA 09 and other games.
April 1, 2009
Two Lions Bay kids get Power Smart, get paid
Posted by Rob Klovance
In the Berman household at Lions Bay, the kids turn off the Xbox when they’re not using it and turn off lights when they leave the room. But it’s not like they became Power Smart without some prodding.
They’ve been bought.
Neil Berman pays his kids $20 each per month to help the family cut its energy costs, and after a year, he figures it’s working.”
“We have some flexibility and don’t expect 100% compliance,” he says. “If a child makes four or more Power Smart ‘mistakes’ per month – not turning off the lights after leaving the bathroom or bedroom, not shutting down the TV and Xbox after playing FIFA 09 – they fail to receive their $20 allocation.”
“The good thing about giving money to your kids is that it’s not a loss of money,” adds Berman, an administrator with the BC Cancer Agency. “They can use it and not ask you for more money.”
Berman hasn’t crunched the numbers, but this much he knows. The family’s first year as Team Power Smart members – prior to the YIP (Youth Incentive Plan) came into effect – the family cut its energy use a modest 5%. But so far in the second year, savings have hovered around 20%.
“I don’t think this is just through their actions, but we have had a good reduction in our consumption since I’ve become obsessed,” says Berman, with a laugh. “The kids say, yeah, it’s really convinced them that being Power Smart is effective, and that they’re happy to do it.”
Perhaps the most amazing thing about the family’s current energy reduction is that it has more or less coincided with the addition of a hot tub. Berman believes the energy costs of running the tub have been offset in part by the fact the family now takes only showers instead of baths. And he figures the biggest reason is a switch from relying on electric baseboard heating to a high-efficiency wood-burning fireplace equipped with a fan.
“It would be very effective for Power Smart if there was something that could show what a family’s consumption is every hour, minute or even every day,”says Berman.
And for that, help is on the way. BC Hydro’s Smart Metering and Infrastructure Program is planning to put meters in B.C. homes that will provide real-time consumption and billing information. Smart meters have already been tested in 2,000 homes across B.C., and BC Hydro expects to complete implementation of the program in 2012.
In the meantime, the two kids in the Berman home are acting Power Smart… most of the time.
“The most difficult energy-saving habit for me was turning off the light in my room when I leave,” says 11-year-old daughter Sacha. “Now, it’s part of my routine.”
Rob Klovance is managing editor of bchydro.com.
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