Christiansburg teen shows bubble wrap inventiveness

CHRISTIANSBURG – Christiansburg student Jared Mann is on a roll, in more ways than one.

This month, Jared, 13, placed in a national invention contest for the third time in the past two years. Previous inventions such as his “Pop-up Solar Cooker Book” solar oven and the “Power Tree” electric generator saw success in 2008 and 2009 contests sponsored by Bubble Wrap and Alliance Rubber Company. This year, Jared’s “Fridge Guard” earned him a spot in the top three in Sealed Air Corporation’s Bubble Wrap Competition for Young Inventors, administered with the National Museum of Education. The results of the contest will be announced during a ceremony at the famous 21 Club in New York City on May 22.

Jared’s latest invention uses Bubble Wrap curtains and rolls to save energy put out by refrigerators.

“I wanted to come up with something that helped an average house, something that saved energy,” Jared said. “So, I did some research and I found that the refrigerator is the number one energy user for appliances in a normal house.”

Other appliances such as ovens and air conditioners use comparable amounts of energy, but the refrigerator one of the only high-energy appliances that is constantly on, Jared said. He began his tests by observing the amount of electricity the fridge used each week through an inexpensive kilowatt meter. Then, Jared recorded what happened when he put rolls of Bubble Wrap in the fridge.

“If someone hasn’t gone shopping in a while, and they’re cooling all the space and don’t need to, then these rolls of Bubble Wrap make it so it doesn’t have to cool all that space,” Jared said.

The savings from simply placing rolls of Bubble Wrap in the fridge amounted to five kilowatt hours, or 10 percent of the fridge’s energy usage without the rolls, Jared said. He was able to conserve even more energy when he added Bubble Wrap curtains to the refrigerator shelves, which keep the cold air inside longer, Jared said. Using the Bubble Wrap rolls and curtains saves an average of 10 KwH every two weeks, Jared said. In total, the refrigerator uses 20 to 25 percent less energy with both devices in place, he said.

Jared’s father, David, said he was amazed to see such a significant amount of savings from such a simple and inexpensive invention.

“It’s very impressive,” David said. “I just was really amazed. Jared came up with the whole idea from start to finish.”

The total cost of the invention, including the kilowatt meter, was about $20, David said.

The Fridge Guard was so efficient at keeping air in, that the Mann’s had to turn down the temperature in their fridge to prevent their food from freezing, Jared said.

The Fridge Guard could save someone with an Energy Star rated refrigerator even more, said Jared’s mom Judy Mann. The federal government currently provides incentives for people to purchase Energy Star rated appliances, she said.

“Imagine being able to afford a new refrigerator that’s Energy Star and using the Fridge Guard on it, the amazing savings,” Judy said.

An Energy Star fridge already uses about half the energy as Manns’ refrigerator (which is about 15 years old), according to Jared’s research. However, the savings are canceled out for a large number of those who purchase a new Energy Star fridge because Jared found out that about 40 percent of those who purchase Energy Star refrigerators also save their old fridges for extra food storage.

This is not the first time the Mann family has seen success in the Bubble Wrap Competition. In addition to Jared’s placing as a semi-finalist in the 2009 competition, his sister, Nicolette, 16, placed second in the competition four years ago with her “Transformable Bubble Wrap Kite”. The entries are judged anonymously each year with different judges for each competition. This year, Jared’s entry was chosen from about 2,500 across the country, a record participation rate for the contest.

“It’s pretty awesome,” Jared said.

If Jared wins first place, he will win a $10,000 savings bond, with an additional $5,000 donation. The competition rules dictate that the donation is to go to the winner’s school, but since Jared is homeschooled, he has decided to give the money to his Boy Scout troop. The second place winner receives a $5,000 savings bond, and the third place winner receives a $3,000 savings bond. All top three contestants won an all-inclusive trip to the awards ceremony in New York courtesy of Sealed Air Corp.

“This company spares no expense,” Judy said.

Jared is continuing a legacy led by his older brothers, David and Brian, who now attend Radford University. Both brothers invented items that the family used until they fell apart, such as a double-capacity rake, which also scoops the leaves after they are put into piles. Jared’s older siblings have entered and placed in similar contests with their inventions. The Manns said they are happy to see their children enjoying success at such a young age, but they never pressure them to enter contests or win.

“We’re really proud of all of them no matter what,” Judy said.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 12th, 2010 at 7:45 am and is filed under FEATURES, News Messenger, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.