Affordable energy-saving switch control system for homes with disabled persons

Abstract

The need for energy conservation has become increasingly urgent in today's world, especially as energy costs continue to rise and the demand for sustainable living grows. For persons with physical disabilities, simple tasks like turning light switches on and off can be challenging, resulting in higher energy usage, increased electricity bills, and increased physical strain. Existing solutions often prioritize energy efficiency but overlook affordability and accessibility, making them impractical for low-income households. To address these issues, this paper proposes an affordable automated energy-saving lighting switch control system using Arduino Uno, ultrasonic sensors for human presence detection, and a relay to control lighting. A person-counter mechanism ensures accurate operation based on room occupancy. Experimental results shows that the proposed system achieves 100% accuracy in detecting human presence in a room, effectively reducing energy consumption from 0.4 kWh to 0.2 kWh per day, which corresponds to 50% energy savings. Additionally, it is 42.41% less expensive than the most affordable system compared in the paper. These findings underscore the system’s potential to offer an affordable, accessible, and energy-efficient solution that enhances the convenience and comfort of disabled persons while contributing to energy conservation efforts.