Logic, but in a different way

Daft Logic

List of the Power Consumption of Typical Household Appliances

Last Updated 12th May 2008

Turn that TV off if you're not watching it! It's wasting electrically!

How much electricity is it really wasting?, and would it not be better to switch off the 4 lights in the room?

The best way to compare the cost of running different appliances is to look at their power consumption, which is measure of how much power they use in Watts. The following list points out typical values for the wattage of some devices you would find in your home so that you can compare them.

Lets start with the easy ones ...

Now some more common appliances...

An important point is also to bare in mind the length of time for which the device will be used. For example an electric blanket may be used for 2 hours, but a hair drier for 5 minutes. Therefore the blanket uses 200W * 2 hours = 0.4kWh. The hair drier uses 100W * 0.0833hours = 0.008333 kWh. So using the blanket costs roughly 5 times as much as the hair drier. Therefore the blanket uses 200W * 2 hours = 0.4kWh. The hair drier uses 1KW * 0.0833hours = 0.08333 kWh. So using the blanket costs roughly 5 times as much as the hair drier.

All values reported here are estimates, you should check the appliance labels or literature to find out the correct power consumption.

Previous Comments For This Page

thank you so much.This was the information I required.
On 03/12/2009
Since posting the comment below, I felt inspired to offer an explination on power consumption. You can view this here - http://www.fileunit.co.uk/Power/
By R. G. Findlay on 09/11/2009
Some values a bit broad... Tumble drier needs 16.7 amp fuse... :-) Devices will tell you how much energy they Can dissipate, not how much they Do... Otherwise helpful site...
By R. G. Findlay on 09/11/2009
this site provided just the information I was looking for,thank you
On 09/07/2009
you are a life saver.this info has helped a lot. do you have info on solar panel relationship to battery charging and d.c supply to inverters during sun hours? Thanks Jim
By Dupsy boy on 08/05/2009
Jim, thanks. It took a while to work out what happened! If the hair drier used 100W (as stated in the example) then it is 48 times more. I should have put 1KW for the hair drier in which case approx. 5 times is correct.
By Daft Logic on 27/01/2009
Your math is terribly wrong. The blanket consumes 2 times as much power (200W versus 100W) for 24 times longer (5 versus 120 minutes) therefore the blanket cost 48 times more.
By jim penner 1/27/09 on 27/01/2009
Starting power consumption is really only worth considering if there is a large motor (motors generally draw 6 times their rated current on start-up) such as a pool pump or refrigerator. And will not so much affect the power consumption as at will the requirements of the off-the-grid inverter which will have to be capable of providing the max expected demand of the installation (rated current of the biggest motor x 6). I have just done an excel spreadsheet to calculate your monthly power bill by appliance to help find what appliances use the most power. If anybody is interested you will find it on my website www.ets.net.nz Cheers ben@ets.net.nz
By Ben Stanton on 04/12/2008
Starting power consumption is more difficult to measure and has less documentation. If anyone knows the typical transient consumption for any of the above appliances then please let us know and it will be added.
By Daft Logic on 04/09/2008
Many people are beginning to explore "off grid" systems and those people need to consider both the "running" power consumption and the "starting" power consumption. You omitted the latter. It would be helpful if you included the starting consumption in your chart.
On 04/09/2008
A similar page that I wrote about "Power Consumption of Household Devices". http://wiki.foochal.org/index.php/Power_Consumption_of_Household_Devices URL: More power consumption data here
By foochal on 03/04/2008

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