How much electricity am I wasting if I leave all of my lights, tv, radio and computer on all the time?
a lot
Why exactly is wasting electricity bad?
Nothing man-made is just made out of nothing, it is made out of something else. Most electricity is created by burning coal or oil or some other fuel (natural resources, often fossil fuels). The more electricity that is wasted, the more coal or whatever has to be burned to make more electricity. Burning coal adds carbon dioxide and other pollutants to the atmosphere, contributing to smog, climate change, acid rain, etc. And even though a small amount of electricity is created using wind turbines, hydroelectric dams, and other means, that is only a small percentage.
How does wasting electricity cause pollution?
Wasting electricity doesn't "cause pollution". Using electricity itself causes pollution, however wasting electricity causes extra pollution and a waste of resources. This is not only a problem environmentally but as a sustainability issue. Many estimates place our coal lifespan to end at 2050, every amount of electricity misused or wasted is what brings the number closer to us. Most electricity is made by coal combustion, of which the best coal to use "anthracite" is scarce. The more efficiently we use electricity, the longer coal plants will be feasible, and the longer we can hold off from being forced to switch from energy productive fossil fuels to more laborious alternative fuels.
Why is wasting electricity bad? Isn't electricity going to be around forever?
Yes, we will probably always use electricity, but the non-electrical form of energy used to generate it costs money and requires resources... In the case of coal, oil and gas fired power plants, the resources are finite and we need to conserve to make the supplies last as long as possible. It also helps in reducing hydrocarbon pollution. In the case of hydro-electric (dams), you would think that there would be an endless supply, but in fact their proper operation depends on seasonal rainfall and how much water drops through a turbine is determined by demand. If a dam can retain more water longer and not operate all of it's turbines, they can provide electricity over a longer period of time. Not to mention that it reduces maintenance on the dam as well. In the case of nuclear energy, these use their fuel at a pretty steady rate, whether they are at full demand or not, however conservation means a reactor can serve more homes and businesses. For wind and solar, you are correct - the supply is seemingly endless, however again, it costs money and takes resources to build and maintain these facilites. Conserving reduces maintenance costs and can help a generation station to service a broader area and more homes. Imagine if we could save 25% each month? That means existing stations could service about 25% more customers without building a new plant. However the biggest reason to conserve is simply because it saves you, the consumer money. I'd much rather pay an $80 electric bill each month than a $120 one. I have better things I can spend my money on...
Why is wasting electricity so bad? Isn't electricity going to be around forever?
You have to generate electricity, somehow. You can burn coal, use nuclear power, use solar power, use wind power.... Burning coal and nuclear power are the main ways we generate electricity. These methods have side effects: polution and waste (radioactive for nuclear). The more electricity we use the more waste we generate.
Am I wasting electricity if I turn off the computer but not the monitor so the orange light is still on?
If you have a modern computer, like a MacBook Pro, leaving the monitor in standby is probably consuming more power than putting your PC in sleep mode rather than turning it off. It may still be a tiny amount of power being wasted in either case but turning off the PC and leaving the monitor in standby seems pointless as it takes vastly longer for a PC to boot up than for you to switch the monitor back on!Personally, I leave all my computers and monitors on and let them manage their own power - this uses about 1p an hour in electricity as an average over 24 hours (I have several PCs/MacBook Pros/Servers running so your consumption in kWh is likely to be much less). I turn my TV, AV AMP, Speakers off at the mains when I’m not using them, which saves about 2p an hour over 24 hours. My power average in the house is 17kWh/day across the year.
Why does my mom HATE wasting water but wastes electricity(which they pay for) constantly?
I'm not the one footing the bill, so it doesn't matter, but I'm confused. My mom has a fit if I leave the water running a few seconds too long while doing dishes, but she leaves ALL the lights on in the house, all the time, leaves the desktop computer running 24/7, runs air conditioning in her room when it's not extremely hot. Also she washes clothes pretty much every day, me and my brother are the only ones who realize you can wear clothes a few times (if they dont smell) before washing. So her "wasting water" thing doesn't even make sense. She's wasting a LOT more water than me! And considering we live in an area that never has droughts, and we have our own well, it doesn't really matter if we waste water. Now if we lived in a dry state, yeah. But out here? Ha. The electricity on the other hand, is expensive. And she always seems shocked and upset when people tell her they pay way less than we do in electric bills. Heck I think most people's utility bill altogether is cheaper than our electric. *facepalm* Idk. It just bugs me that she's like "don't waste the water! but I'll do laundry every day that's not wasting water." but "waste aaaallll the electricity! wait why is the bill so high??". But then again, I'm not paying for it. So maybe I should just let her have her lights on all the time and not worry about it. :P
Am I wasting my life with electrical engineering?
You are not wasting your life. You clearly have a a talent for this. I think you should stick with it, but with a few suggestions.You really want to get your degree. A EE degree will make finding a job later a lot easier. It’s great you have advanced skills already, but without the degree you are going to have a hell of a time finding a job with promotion possibilities, and you won’t be able to go to grad school unless you have a B.S. first. (And grad school is where the REALLY interesting stuff happens).What you need is to take harder classes. The good news is that you should be able to knock out this easy stuff fast given your skills. So see if the school will let you overload on classes. That is take more per term then is standard. Get through them faster so you can get to more advanced ones. Try to take classes on topics you are NOT familiar with. It will make you more well-rounded and valuable.As for the easy classes, try to focus on filling out your knowledge of theory. You have a lot of practical experience, but your professors may still have some tricks to teach you about the underlying theory. How’s your semiconductor physics for example? Ever built a phased-array antenna? Have you studied information theory? How about signal processing? All of those are areas of specialization people spend whole careers on, so I suspect you could find something interesting to work on.Hang in there!
Is it useless to waste time for electrical engineering graduates to search for core sector jobs, instead of starting career in IT sector?
This answer is in Indian context:The OP of the question is correct.The only way to become an electrical engineer in India is by competing in some competitive exam to become an electrical engineer in the govt sector.This image can be helpful: