Continue using the equations here if you want to find energy use based on your own usage patterns).ĮNERGY STAR offers energy-use information on specific products that have earned the ENERGY STAR. The Home Energy Saver provides a list of appliances with their estimated wattage and their annual energy use, along with other characteristics (including annual energy use, based on "typical" usage patterns. Use online sources to find typical wattages or the wattage of specific products you are considering purchasing.
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The amperes might be stamped on the unit in place of the wattage, or listed in the owner’s manual or specification sheet. Larger appliances, such as clothes dryers and electric cooktops, use 240 volts. Most appliances in the United States use 120 volts.
If the wattage is not listed on the appliance, you can still estimate it by finding the electrical current draw (in amperes) and multiplying that by the voltage used by the appliance. Multiply the appliance ampere usage by the appliance voltage usage A fan set at a higher speed uses more power than one set at a lower speed. For example, a radio set at high volume uses more power than one set at low volume. Many appliances have a range of settings, so the actual amount of power an appliance may consume depends on the setting being used. The wattage listed is the maximum power drawn by the appliance. The wattage of most appliances is usually stamped on the bottom or back of the appliance, or on its nameplate. There are three ways to find the wattage an appliance uses: For example, you could record the cooking time each time you use your microwave, work on your computer, watch your television, or leave a light on in a room or outdoors. It may be practical for you to keep a usage log for some appliances. Refrigerators, although turned "on" all the time, actually cycle on and off as needed to maintain interior temperatures. To estimate the number of hours that a refrigerator actually operates at its maximum wattage, divide the total time the refrigerator is plugged in by three. If you know you run your whole house fan 4 hours every night before shutting it off, you can use that number. For example, if you know you normally watch about 4 hours of television every day, you can use that number. If you know about how much you use an appliance every day, you can roughly estimate the number of hours it runs. Estimate the number of hours per day an appliance runs.These loads can be avoided by unplugging the appliance or using a power strip and using the switch on the power strip to cut all power to the appliance.įollow these steps for finding the annual energy consumption of a product, as well as the cost to operate it. Most phantom loads will increase the appliance's energy consumption a few watt-hours, and you can use a monitor to estimate those too. Many appliances continue to draw a small amount of stand-by power when they are switched "off." These "phantom loads" occur in most appliances that use electricity, such as televisions, stereos, computers, and kitchen appliances.
Some monitors will let you enter the amount your utility charges per kilowatt-hour and provide an estimate how much it cost to run the device since it was plugged into the monitor. Monitors are especially useful for finding the amount of kWh used over any period of time for devices that don’t run constantly, like refrigerators. If you want to know how many kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity the devices uses in an hour, or a day, or longer, just leave everything set up and read the display later. It will display how many watts the device uses. To find out how many watts of electricity a device is using, just plug the monitor into the electrical outlet the device uses, and then plug the device into the monitor. Before using a monitor, read the user manual. (But it can’t be used with large appliances that use 220 volts, such as electric clothes dryers, central air conditioners, or water heaters.) You can buy electricity usage monitors at most hardware stores for around $25-$50. Electricity usage monitors are easy to use and can measure the electricity usage of any device that runs on 120 volts.
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