Research so far and some thoughts

Now that I've looked at the difference between something that is on all the time and something that is used sparingly I have found out some interesting facts.

Although the TV uses much more energy to run, since it is not on all the time its energy/hour or energy/day is surprisingly lower than I would have thought.

Contrarily, the internet modem used significantly less power than the TV to run. However, due to it being on 24/7 the amount of energy it uses is much much higher than the TV in the long run.

This was interesting as, going by the packet, the internet modem looks like a much better energy saver than the TV. This just goes to show you how time is an important abstract factor in the energy world.

First thoughts & research plan

Seeing as we are looking at our own energy use I thought I would try something different to just monitoring a single device. I am therefore going to be monitoring both my wireless internet, which is always on 24/7, compared to my TV which is not always on.

Hopefully this should be able to give me some idea as to whether having something low powered on all the time is using more power than something we use with limits.

Project 1 Final 5 Hi Res Photos

And here they are finished

I am now building a structure to hold up the water fall.

here are the pillars

and the actual holds

Decided to switch to using superglue to initially glue the acrylic together, then using pva to seal it. Since the pva weakens with water the structure won't collapse over time, although it might start to leak.

Construction

Here is my prototype that I made.

and again in action

I need to make a stand for the new one.
And i'm changing the color of the acrylic to clear and using blue water instead.

No pump

I can't get a water pump to pump the water continuously for me. Which means, it'll have to be a funnel or all manual. This shouldn't be an issue for the final outcome, though it would have been nice to have one.

Solution

After some research I've found how to make my waterfall flow nice and consistently. By doing a similar method to water flowing out of a full bath I can get a nice even flow of water, controlled by the speed the water is being put in.

bottom of the waterfall

Having an inner debate about what to do with the bottom of the waterfall. I would like to put something there that makes sound. but:

-i don't want to have too many interactions, I already have sight and touch. adding more would only make the model more complex and could be a little over the top.
-I also can't think of a way to stop water just spilling all over the floor...

I think i might just have a basin to collect the water in.

More stuff

Heres a quick sketch of the system im planning on trying out for the waterfall.