Energy Loss

Keywords

Conservation of energy, insulation, work, power, systems, loss, waste, transfer, sound, light, movement.

Introduction

We know there are different types of energy. And those energies can be stored. Also, we know that they cannot be created or destroyed. But they can be lost.

Energy Dissipation

No system is perfect. That is true for energy stores. You can have one energy working, and then it can transfer. When it does transfer, some energy is dissipated, lost.

But how? Let's find out.

How is Energy Lost?

Let's take the example given here:

A lot of people have laptops. They are a mobile device that can be used with a battery, and that use energy from the mains socket.

When you charge the battery in a laptop, it moves electrical energy from the mains socket to the battery, which is a chemical type battery (usually lithium-ion) to store. This is the transfer of energy. What also happens?

You may find that your laptop gets warm while it charges. This is also true for other devices like a mobile phone. When they get hot, this is the dissipation of energy. It's wasted energy - unless it's cold that day, and you need to warm your hands while using them.

Heat is just one type of energy dissipation. Other types include:

• sound
• light
• movement
• and more

Reduction of Energy Waste

There are ways in which we can reduce these wastes of energy. The stores can be changed. For example, light energy on a laptop or mobile phone can be changed quite easily. You can reduce the brightness in your screen, which will then reduce the amount of energy wasted.

Another way using this same example would be to turn any music down. This also reduces the energy wasted.

Interesting fact: around 75% of the energy use to power our electronic devices is consumed when the products are turned on or off. It is actually better for you to leave them on constantly.

Other Factors

When we make buildings in the UK, we take into consideration that there will be cold weather, hot weather and all other different types of weather. So, how do we combat all these inclements of weather? We build houses with cavity walls so we can insulate them well during the winter.

We also take into consideration the thermal conductivity of the building. Everything is looked at to conserve heat inside the house. Cavity walls are just one thing, but we also look at how thick the walls are in the first place, what materials they are made out of, and also the windows and doors that are fitted. Ideally, we'd all like triple glazed windows to stop all the heat being removed or escaping.