Knowing Electrical Consumption Calculation to Save on Your Electric Bill
Knowing the electrical consumption calculation for your home can be valuable in helping you save money. It can keep you informed as to how much energy each appliance and device that you have in your home is using. With this information, you can adjust your usage of each item as needed.
Finding the Wattage
It is not difficult to figure out the electrical consumption calculation for the devices and appliances in your home. The first thing you will need to figure out is the wattage of your appliances. The wattage is usually listed on a label that is stuck to the appliance, or it may also be found in the owner’s manual.
If you can not find a sticker on your appliance, and no longer have the owner manual, there are other options available. Wattage measuring devices can be purchased to help calculate wattage. Another option is to contact the manufacturer who can tell you the wattage of your device if you provide them with the model number. An internet search might also provide you with the wattage if you look up how much wattage similar devices use.
Figuring Out Electrical Consumption Calculation
Once you have determined the wattage of your appliance, you are now ready to take steps necessary for electrical consumption calculation. The process is as follows:
- Multiply the wattage of the appliance by the number of hours you use it each day. This will give you your daily watt hours.
- Next you need to convert these watts into kilowatts (kWh). This is necessary because the energy consumed is measured in kilowatts on your electric bill. 1 kilowatt is equal to 1,000 watts. Therefore, you will have to take the number of your watt hours and divide by 1,000.
- Since your electric bill measures the monthly use of each appliance, you need to figure out your monthly use as well. To do this, multiply the number you have by 30, one for each day of the month.
- Now you know how much wattage you are using for your appliance each month, but you still must figure out how much it is costing you. To do this, pull our your electric bill and see how much you are being charged per kilowatt. Multiply this number by your total kilowatt use, as found in step 3.
And that’s it! Now that you are armed with this knowledge, you can see which appliances are using the most electricity each month. If any of these seem to be costing an unprecedented amount, you can think about using them less or replacing them with more energy efficient models. Being able to do electrical consumption calculations can also help you investigate unusual spikes in your electric bill and find possible errors that may have been made by your utility company. Try to do an electrical consumption calculation the next time you get your electrical bill and see how much money you can be saving!