Electricity Price Comparison

We’re living in a time where people are being encouraged to become more energy conscious and environmentally friendly. This means taking the time to implement changes to do our part to make things better.

One great perk, however, is that as we put some of these eco-conscious actions into practice, we can also see some savings in our energy costs. In order to understand these savings and some of the changes you are making, you need to know how much energy you use on a regular basis.

How to Find Your Energy Usage Number:

Look at the label: Many appliances these days break their energy usage down right there on the label. It’s in simple terms and can give you a good idea of how efficient each appliance really is.

Got Amps? If all you’re seeing is the number of amps, the watts nowhere to be found, there is an easy way to calculate this number. Multiply the number of amps by 120 to get the wattage.

Of course if the appliance uses volts, especially those being used off the North American continent, simply multiply those amps by 240 to find the watts. Appliances with the 240 calculation are DC power rather than AC power and can be identified by the gargantuan plugs.

My appliance is labeled as 110, 115, or 120 volts, but what does that really mean? Your appliances are actually set up to accept voltages within a range between 110 and 120 volts, regardless of what number the label tags it at.

The actual voltage being put out by the electrical socket is dependent on the plant supplying the power to your home as well as you home itself. The rule still applies for figuring up the watts: in the U.S., continue to multiply by the amps by 120; 240 internationally. There are some appliances, though they are few and far between, that actually list the range of voltage as being between 100 and 240. For this, simply remember what country you’re in and do the calculations, as mentioned above, accordingly.

Now, when looking at your appliance labels, there are a few other things you will need to be aware of in order to know just how much energy is being used.

The number of watts listed is actually the maximum amount that the appliance will ever use. This means it might run at this wattage sometimes, but will also run lower much of the time and never over the number listed.

Electrical consumption of any device or appliance is not uniform. One washer will not use the same amount as another, for example. Consumption varies by brand and condition.

Certain devices still use electricity whether they are turned on or not.

The label and calculations will not tell you how much energy your appliance is consuming at all times. Since most appliances are not running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, the level of energy being used will differ somewhat from moment to moment.

The watts listed on the box might actually equal out put, not input. Therefore, your appliance might list 20 watts, when in reality it might take 40 watts of input to get 20 watts of performance.

Now that you know a little more about finding and calculating your energy consumption, you will have a better idea of why you pay what you do for energy use and maybe you’ll even become more aware of your usage, causing you to cut back or take other steps to protect Mother Earth and your pocketbook. Soon, we will discuss the energy consumption of specific appliance types and steps you can take to save on energy.