Energy

The facts:

One ULT freezer at -80 °C consumes about 11.000 kWh/year, which is more than 3 times as much energy as a 2-person household. While they cannot be replaced in our laboratories there are some actions we can take to reduce their energy consumption and prolong their lifetime.

What can we do?

• Regularly defrost the freezer and reduce ice-buildups.
• Regularly vacuum the condenser filter and coils to ensure efficient cooling.
• Ensure that the freezer is standing alone and nothing blocks the flow of the waste heat (e.g. walls or boxes)
• Turn the freezer up to -70 °C to safe up to 30% of energy.
• Not sure, if your sample are stable at -70 °C? Check the following link for more detailed information.
• Please check with your technician to check what is optimal for your freezer first

References:

• Energy consumption of a ULT freezer
• Energy consumption of German households
• "-70 is the new -80"

The facts:

Freezers warm up during opening time and require a sufficient time to return to set temperature, when opened for longer. Internal measurements at the BMC revealed that an ultra-low-temperature (ULT) freezer at -80 °C required 4h to return to set temperature after being opened for 3min.

What can we do?

• Reduce opening times
• Keep your freezers organized to find your sample faster
• Take an inventory
• Take the box out & close the door of the freezer, when searching for a sample. If necessary, use (dry) ice.

References

• Temperature observation of a ULT at the BMC

The facts:

Fume hoods are essential to prevent users from being exposed to hazardous fumes, vapors and dust. However, they contribute massively to the energy consumption of laboratories due to the constant removal of large volumes of conditioned air from the lab spaces. One fume hood consumes as much energy as three households.

What can we do?

• Close fume hood sashes if not actively using the hood.

References

• Changing Behavior Through Design: A Lab Fume Hood Closure Experiment

• The Berkeley Hood - Development and Commercialization of an Innovative High-Performance Laboratory Fume Hood

  
  

The facts:

Cell culture hoods are essential for the safety of users and biological materials but contribute massively to the energy consumption of laboratories. They consume as much as 3 one-person households of energy per day.

What can we do?

• Close and turn off cell culture hoods after use.

References

• Energy consumption of biological safety cabinets - NIH environmental management system newsletter, 2021; List of metered equipment CU Green Labs, University of Colorado Boulder, 2018; Calculation energy consumption biological safety cabinet at BMC

The facts:

Small devices, eg. heater, magnetic stirrer and the cell counter, consume energy to maintain the set-temperature and display.

What can we do?

• If possible, plan experiments in advance to avoid keeping the heater working for prolonged period of time.

• Heaters usually only need 5 minutes to reach 50°C and 20 minutes to reach 95°C.

• Remember to turn devices off after use.

References

• Rates of energy consumption of small devices were measured at our institute with a wattmeter.

The facts:

-20 °C freezer are often colder than the setting.

What can we do?

• Adjust your freezer settings to the desired temperature with a thermometer

References

• Temperature and energy consumption of freezers were measured at our institute.

The facts:

The energy consumption of a laptop in use for 8 h/day is around 150-300 kWh. Two trees are required to offset the emission of a single laptop (one mature tree absorbs 22 kg CO2/year from the atmosphere)

What can we do?

• Turn off you monitor if inactive.
• Put your computer on sleep mode or lock mode (CTRL + L) if inactive.
• Turn off your computer during night

References

• The truth behind shutting down your computer
• Best power-saving mode for your computer