Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Friday, March 18, 2011
Partial List - Electricity Usage by Appliance
| Item | Watts | Hours Used | KWH Used | Cost to Test | Hourly Cost | Daily Cost | Weekly Cost | Monthly Cost | Yearly Cost |
| Deep Freezer cycling | 100* | 12 hours | 0.43 | $0.03 | $0.00 | $0.07 | $0.50 | $2.16 | $26.36 |
| Deep Freezer idle | 0 | 12 hours | |||||||
| Swamp Cooler Fan only | 120 | 51 mins | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.26 | $1.83 | $7.86 | $95.67 | |
| Lamp w/60 watt bulb | 39.8 | 1 hour 20 min | 0.05 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.08 | $0.56 | $2.41 | $29.38 |
| Old Style mimi x-mas lights | 40.3 | 13 hours 7 min | 0.53 | $0.00176667 | $0.00 | $0.08 | $0.57 | $2.47 | $30.13 |
| LED Rope Lights | 36.2 | 0 | 0 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.07 | $0.50 | $2.16 | $26.36 |
| 2 50 watt fans | 102 | 2 hours | 0.1 | $74.38 | |||||
| Alarm Clock radio only | 1.7 | $0.01 | $0.06 | $0.75 | |||||
| Alarm Clock buzzer alarm | 2.1 | ||||||||
| Alarm Clock Only | 1.6 | ||||||||
| Computer Monitor On | 1.8-1.9 | $0.02 | $0.12 | $1.50 | |||||
| Computer Monitor Off | 1.3-1.5 | I unplugged the monitor from the device to let it go down to zero then plugged it back in and it still showed 1.3 to 1.5 watts being used. | |||||||
| 50 Gallon Fresh Water Aquarium Filter, Aerator Jet, Air Compressor, Lighting, Heater, Bubble Stones | 35.1 | 69 hours 18 mins | 3.44 | $0.29 | $0.00 | $0.10 | $0.70 | $3.03 | $36.91 |
Dumbest Things You Do With Your Money - CBS MoneyWatch.com
This is one of the best articles on spending that everyone including those on an HOA board need to watch for. It's always easier to spend another person's, a business's, or HOA money rather than your own. To convince us that something is a good deal, motivate one to do something or justifying why something was done or needs to be done is commonly done by using psychology. Causing us to use the portion of our brain that controls emotions. Emotion based spending results in illogical and irresponsible spending resulting in financial troubles.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
What does it really cost to run appliances?
We went out and purchased one of those devices that measures the electricity usage of individual items. It provides us with the cost per hour, cost per day, cost per week, cost per month, cost per year as well as the total KWH used by the appliance from the time we plugged it into the device. It also gives us the watts, volts, amps, and kw used to power the item. For items that cycle on and off the device needs at least 4 hours to accurately calculate the cost. We are on SRPs time of use plan. This makes it a bit more difficult to get the correct cost. To get the cost per KWH I just took the total cost with all the taxes and usage fees and the total KWH used to get the cost per KWH to program the device.
Keep in mind, items take the full 1000 watts just turn it on. Once on, the wattage required for the appliance to function can continuously decrease the longer it's on. Thus, turning something on then off quickly doesn't save any money. Here's why, 1000 watts are equal to 1 KWH and if you turn on something that requires 1000 watts to turn it on your billed for 1 KWH even if you use it for 2 seconds. We should be thankful we aren't billed in watts or our bills would be enormous. If you used 2000 KWH in a month that is equal to 2,000,000 Watts.
I was told a long time ago by an account representative not to bother trying to calculate this stuff out by hand. She told me it was impossible and something they cannot even do. Leading me to wonder how do they know if the information input into the systems are correct. People are human and do make mistakes. The more confusing it is to compute the less people will try to question.
So far we have tested a swamp cooler running fan only and two 50 watt fans. The swamp cooler costs about $95.00 a year to run if run 24/7. The two 50 watt fans costs about $74.00 a year if run 24/7. Some people may argue that the swamp cooler is more cost effective because the amount of air it is able to move vs. the two 50 watt fans. It also depends on what application your using the items for. If you are trying to move enough air to cool off a garage then the swamp cooler is for you. If not, then maybe the two fans are for you. Basically, just like paint colors it is all up to personal preference and application.
Stay tuned for the results of all our tests. All the items we can test in our home we will. We plan to test everything and post all the information this device will give us. Is it energy efficient or is it cost effective for the application being used that is the question?
Keep in mind, items take the full 1000 watts just turn it on. Once on, the wattage required for the appliance to function can continuously decrease the longer it's on. Thus, turning something on then off quickly doesn't save any money. Here's why, 1000 watts are equal to 1 KWH and if you turn on something that requires 1000 watts to turn it on your billed for 1 KWH even if you use it for 2 seconds. We should be thankful we aren't billed in watts or our bills would be enormous. If you used 2000 KWH in a month that is equal to 2,000,000 Watts.
I was told a long time ago by an account representative not to bother trying to calculate this stuff out by hand. She told me it was impossible and something they cannot even do. Leading me to wonder how do they know if the information input into the systems are correct. People are human and do make mistakes. The more confusing it is to compute the less people will try to question.
So far we have tested a swamp cooler running fan only and two 50 watt fans. The swamp cooler costs about $95.00 a year to run if run 24/7. The two 50 watt fans costs about $74.00 a year if run 24/7. Some people may argue that the swamp cooler is more cost effective because the amount of air it is able to move vs. the two 50 watt fans. It also depends on what application your using the items for. If you are trying to move enough air to cool off a garage then the swamp cooler is for you. If not, then maybe the two fans are for you. Basically, just like paint colors it is all up to personal preference and application.
Stay tuned for the results of all our tests. All the items we can test in our home we will. We plan to test everything and post all the information this device will give us. Is it energy efficient or is it cost effective for the application being used that is the question?
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