Should I heat the water on the stove or in the electric kettle? Do I start the washing machine in the afternoon or after 10 at night? How do I lower CO2 emissions (排放) by the way I use energy?
Answers to such and similar questions are provided by the online game—RED, which is the short form for Renewable Energy Drama. Researchers from IDMT in Erfurt, Germany, have developed the Web application. The experts see great potential in online games for teaching the subject of "Saving electricity at home" in an entertaining manner and to show that one's own behavior can affect how much electricity costs.
The software is aimed at adults and young people interested in renewable energies who want to know how they can save energy. "How much energy do individual household appliances consume, which ones are the ‘energy robbers' and are the high bills the results of price increases—RED supplies the answers. The game takes only about 10 to 15 minutes," says a researcher.
RED leads you through the daily life of an imaginary family of three. The screen shows all the rooms in a house. The user goes into each room and via mouse click does the regular housework such as cooking food or doing the laundry.
In a second module, the online game informs the users how they can save electricity by using "Smart Meters". Taking the time of day into consideration, they measure the exact actual usage of electricity. This is how the consumers can identify the potential for savings and start his dishwasher only at night when electricity is cheap.
The "Saving electricity at home" module will go online soon and so will the second RED module, "Saving electricity with Smart Meters." The online game can be played at www. resident-project. and is free of charge.
