Calculate the Energy Cost of Your Appliances With This Formula
You
can easily find the annual cost estimates of your appliances. But those
numbers are based on averages, not your actual usage. Here’s how to
calculate a better figure for how much your appliances are running you.
You’ve
probably seen those those big yellow labels that tell you how much
energy an appliance uses. Financial journalist Liz Weston explains that
these aren’t completely accurate, because they’re based on national
averages. Your cost might vary quite a bit depending on where you live
and how much energy you use.
You could
always invest in a usage monitor to get a better idea of your cost. But
if you don’t feel like spending the money, here’s a formula that might
be more helpful.
First, you
need to estimate the appliance’s daily run time. If you run your washer
for seven hours a week, for example, that’s one hour a day. Weston
explains that refrigerators run about eight hours a day. You also need
to know the appliance’s wattage, which can usually be found on the
appliance itself. If not, a quick Internet search should yield some
results. One last thing: you’ll need to know how much you pay for
energy. How many cents do you pay per kilowatt? That info can be found
on your electric bill.
Once you have those three bits of info, here’s how to calculate the cost:
- Calculate the daily energy consumption:
(Wattage) x (hours used per day)
Divide the answer by 1,000. - Calculate the annual use:(Daily energy consumption) x (number of days the appliance is used per year)
- Multiply #2 by your energy cost.
I used Weston’s formula to calculate the energy cost of my TV. Here are my results:
- Daily energy consumption:260 watts X about 4 hours = 1,040
Divided by 1,000= 1.04 kwh of daily consumption - Annual use:1.04 X 350 (I shaved some days off for vacation, weekend trips) = 364
- Multiply by energy cost:
364 x $0.14 per kwh = $50.96
My TV costs
just over $50 a year to use. If you want to know where to focus your
energy savings, this formula could come in handy. It can also tell you
how much you could potentially save by upgrading appliances. For more
detail, check out the full post.
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