How To Reduce Your Electricity Bill Using

Lean Six SigmaProject Storyboard Example

Operational Definitions• Kilowatt Hour, kWh: Unit of energy equal to 1000 watt hours or 3.6 mega

joules. All wattage measures in this study are in kWh(s).

• Usage Meter: This device is used to measure the actual power usage of a appliance in kWh

• Major Appliances:

• Refrigerator, Oven, Stove, Dishwasher, TV, DVR

• Washer, Dryer, House Heater Fan, A/C, Pool Pumps

• Smart Meter: Edison Smart Connect ® smart meters transmit usage info within a secure wireless network every hour

• Billing is from the 19th thru the 19th of the next month

Project Wins

• Reduced monthly electric cost by 35%, 10% greater than the target goal

• Start Date: Oct 7, 2012

• End Date: Dec 20, 2012

• Improved alignment of max power usage with least cost time frames

• Improved awareness by all house mates on their own power usage habits

Project Results Summary

DMAIC Approach

• Identified a baseline of electric usage (over 1 year)

• Identified appliance and how much electricity is used and when during the day

• Audit the number of times room lights are computers are left unattended and on

• Follow Voice Of The Customer (VOC)

• Those living in the house

Define Phase

• Problem Statement: Monthly cost of electricity used has gone up every year for the last 6 years

• Goal: Understand the required use of electricity and identify those devices or activities that contribute the most to the overall bill. Reduce by 20%

Measure Phase

• Use Process Map, Fishbone Diagram, and Hypothesis Statements to determine how often lights and appliances are left on

• Baseline collected:

• Electricity cost per month

• Electricity usage per hour

• Billing Tiers and rates

Fishbone Diagram

Analyze Phase

Room Light Audit

• Potential Issue: People leave the lights on to often expense

• Hypothesis Statement: Lights left on in unattended rooms greatly contribute to the over monthly electricity

• Audit Results: It was determined from the baseline data that there was a real issue with how we manage our habits with regard to turning the light off when we leave a room

Improve Phase• Improvements were selected based on the ease of

implementation and the return on investment

• Improvements were also agreed to by the customers

• Improvements to include:

• Update the 20 year old single speed pool pimp

• Reduce frequency of lights left on

• Turn off dryer mode in the dishwasher

• Keep the freezer 90% full at all times

Baseline vs. Improvement Data Comparison

Control Phase

• Audit electricity usage each week for 1 year, checking on daily metrics provided by Edison

• Performa energy usage audit every year and maintain records

• Slowly convert all household lights to LED

Monitoring & Response Plan

• Bi-monthly communication to customer with data provided by Edison

• Average daily/weekly usage should not exceed that f the usage from 1 year ago

• Monthly “Lights Left On” process fees should not exceed $21.00/mo

Control Phase Next Steps

Get Project Details

For the full project details, visit our website: https://goleansixsigma.com/how-to-reduce-your-electricity-bill-using-lean-six-sigma/

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