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?