Electrical Appliences Question.

Cardew

rygon wrote:

1st of all you need to find out how much energy each appliance uses (in watts. 1kW = 1000W)
Next find out how long it is typically on for in a day (in hrs to get from mins to hrs divide the mins by 60).
By multuiplying these 2 numbers you will get the amount of energy used in Watt hrs (which i assume is what you have on your bill..if its kWhrs then divide by 1000). by multiplying this by 365 you will have the amount of energy used in a year. multiply this by you standard rate and it will give you the cost.

If the appliance is only used say once a week then find out its watt hrs and multiply by 52 for the year usage.

If the appliance only gives the rated current (amp) and voltage multiply these 2 together to get the wattage (if no voltage take it as 230v)

Much as you obviously shouldn't leave on any appliance, the above is far too simplistic and is frankly meaningless.

Nearly every appliance that uses lots of electricity has a thermostat and uses only a fraction of power you would calculate using the above quote.

My freezer for example rated at 400 watts would use by your calculation 3504kWh in a year in practice it uses about one tenth of that power.

To take an extreme example an electric cooker with ovens, grill, rings etc might be rated at 20kW with every device on a thermostat - you simply cannot know how much electricity it is using without power measuring equipment.

My computer is rated at 400 watts - it rarely uses more than 160 watts.

Leave an iron on and it will switch on and off.

Washing machine takes 3kW when heater on, but a 90 min cycle uses 0.6 to 0.9kWh instead of the 4.5kWh your calculation would suggest.

The same principle applies to dryer, dishwasher, microwave, immersion heater etc etc.

A_Nice_Englishman

And in the winter at least, none of the energy is really wasted as it ends up as heat to keep the house warm.

TimBuckTeeth

I would not worry about how much power it uses by leaving an iron or hair straighteners on, it is likely to cost less than a pound a day.

I would concentrate on the fire risk point though, even if the message doesn't sink in, at least you will have the satisfaction of saying 'I told you so' on returning to your smoldering wreck of a house.:D

One of these is the kind of thing you need :
CPC - Count down timer plug description

marleyboy

TimBuckTeeth wrote:

I would not worry about how much power it uses by leaving an iron or hair straighteners on, it is likely to cost less than a pound a day.

I would concentrate on the fire risk point though, even if the message doesn't sink in, at least you will have the satisfaction of saying 'I told you so' on returning to your smoldering wreck of a house.:D

One of these is the kind of thing you need :
CPC - Count down timer plug description

Cheers Timbuck, but worry I do, £1 a day=£365 a year, its the old addage of pennies makes pounds. You are right about the fire hazard, the last thing I want is to come home from work to find a shell where m,y house once stood, I dont think saying "I told you so" would get a look in. More likely "Hope you can afford this bill love". :eek: