Ideaz

One of the biggest hidden costs on college campuses is electricity waste—fans, lights, and chargers often run all night in hostels or classrooms. Students usually don’t think about it because they don’t see the bill directly. Current systems like “switch off when not in use” posters or occasional inspections don’t really change behavior. The gap is clear: campuses need a smarter, real-time way to track and reduce energy waste.

My idea is a Smart Energy Monitoring System for hostels and classrooms. Small IoT-based sensors would be installed in rooms to track electricity usage—like how long fans, ACs, and lights are left on. This data would connect to a dashboard accessible to both students and administrators. Students could check their personal energy use through a mobile app, while the system could also auto-send alerts like “Your fan has been running for 5 hours straight” or “You forgot to turn off the light.”

For the university, aggregated data would highlight which hostels or blocks are the most energy-heavy, so they can set reduction goals or reward the most efficient ones. Even small competitions like “Which block saves the most power this month?” could gamify conservation.

Who benefits?

• Students: Learn responsibility and save resources.
• University: Cuts down electricity bills and supports sustainability.
• Community: Reduces overall energy demand and carbon footprint.

Why this matters to me:

I’ve seen fans and lights left running all night in my hostel, and it feels like a waste nobody tracks. A system like this would not only save money but also make students more conscious engineers in practice, not just in theory.