Overrated: Turning The Lights Off

How many times have you been yelled at for leaving the lights on?
Do you stress about constantly having to turn off the lights in order to stop wasting electricity and money?

Good news!
Leaving the lights on costs much less than most people think it does.

With all the anxiety and focus on not being wasteful and on turning the lights off, you'd expect the cost of leaving lights on to be a few dollars for every couple of hours.
But, in fact, the cost of your negligence in not turning off the lights is in the cents.

Let's assume you leave 3 lights on for 5 hours. How much does that actually cost?

Furthermore, let's assume each of the 3 lights is one 50-Watt bulb.

3 light bulbs X 50-Watts = 150 Watts

150 Watts X 5 Hours = 750 Watts


Here is the shocking part:
A Kilowatt-hour  (kWh) of electricity in the residential sector costs only 10-20 cents (US average is ~13 cents)
That means that our example above (leaving 3 lights on for 5 hours) is equivalent to 0.75 kWh. Based on electricity prices, your "enormously wasteful" behavior of leaving the lights on only costs between 7.5 and 15 cents!!


Rather than worry about turning the lights off, you should focus more on other appliances and sources that use electricity:

Heating
26,500 watts	Elec. furnace, 2000sf, cold climate
7941 watts	Elec. furnace, 1000sf, warm climate
1440 watts	Electric space heater (high)
900 watts	Electric space heater (medium)
600 watts	Electric space heater (low)
750 watts	Gas furnace (for the blower)
1100 watts	Waterbed heater
450 watts	Waterbed heater (avg. 10 hrs./day)
Cooling
3500 watts	Central Air Conditioner (2.5 tons)
1440 watts	Window unit AC, huge
900 watts	Window unit AC, medium
500 watts	Tiny-ass window unit AC
325-425 watts	Fan only for central AC (no cooling)
More efficient cooling
400 watts	Evaporative cooler
350 watts	Whole-house fan
100 watts	Floor or box fan (high speed)
90 watts	52" ceiling fan (high speed)
75 watts	48" ceiling fan (high speed)
55 watts	36" ceiling fan (high speed)
24 watts	42" ceiling fan (low speed)
Major appliances
4400 watts	Clothes dryer (electric)
see sep. page	Washing machine
3800 watts	Water heater (electric)
200-700 watts	Refrigerator (compressor)
57-160 watts	Refrigerator (average)
3600 watts	Dishwasher (washer heats water)
2000 watts	Electric oven, 350°F
1178 watts	Electric oven, self-cleaning mode (takes 4.5 hrs, 5.3 kWh total)
1200 watts	Dishwasher (dry cycle)
200 watts	Dishwasher (no water heating or drying)
Lighting
60 watts	60-watt light bulb (incandescent)
18 watts	CFL light bulb (60-watt equivalent)
5	Night light
0.5	LED night light
Computers  (see more about electrical use of computers)
150-340 watts	Desktop Computer & 17" CRT monitor
1-20 watts	Desktop Computer & Monitor (in sleep mode)
90 watts	17" CRT monitor
40 watts	17" LCD monitor
45 watts	Laptop computer
Televisions & Videogames
191-474 watts	50-56" Plasma television
210-322 watts	50-56" LCD television
150-206 watts	50-56" DLP television
188-464 watts	42" Plasma television
91-236 watts	42" LCD television
98-156 watts	32" LCD television
55-90 watts	19" CRT television
45 watts	HD cable box (varies by model)
194 watts	PS3
185 watts	Xbox 360
70 watts	Xbox
30 watts	PS2
18 watts	Nintendo Wii (source)
Other
1440 watts	Microwave oven or 4-slot Toaster
900 watts	Coffee maker
800 watts	Range burner
4 watts	Clock radio

                                                                                Source: http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/howmuch.html

Annual consumption of electrical appliances in the kitchen 

Type of appliance	Capacity	Length of use	Consumption / year
Combi fridge-freezer A+	150 to 200 W	365 days - continuously	201 kWh
Combi fridge-freezer C	200 to 350 W	365 days - continuously	500 kWh
Dishwasher	1200 W	48 weeks - 5 x per week	288 kWh
Coffee machine	500 to 1000 W	335 days - 10 mins./day	42 kWh
Cooker hood	70 to 150 W	335 days - 40 mins./day	25 kWh
Microwave oven	1000 to 1500 W	48 weeks - 1.5 h/week	90 kWh
Conventional electric oven	2000 to 2500 W	48 weeks - 1.5 h/week	162 kWh

Annual consumption of electrical appliances in the living room 

Type of appliance		Capacity	Length of use	Consumption/year
LCD TV	On	90 to 250 W	335 days - 4  hours per day	241 kWh
LCD TV	In sleep mode	3 W	365 days - continuously	22 kWh
old Plasma TV	On	261 to 344 W	335 days - 4  hours per day	402 kWh
old Plasma TV	In sleep mode	3 W	365 days - continuously	22 kWh
LED TV	On	20 to 60 W	335 days - 4  hours per day	54 kWh
LED TV	In sleep mode	0.3 W	365 days - continuously	2,2 kWh
Low-energy light bulbs		12 W	335 days - 5  hours per day	20 kWh
Game console		20 to 180 W	5 to 6 x per week - 1h20mins. = 387 hours per year	7.75 to 69.5 kWh
TVD/ADSL decoder			365 days - continuously	277 kWh + 112 kWh = 389 kWh
Halogen lamps		300 W	335 days - 5  hours per day	503 kWh

Annual consumption of electrical appliances in the laundry room

Type of appliance	Capacity	Length of use	Consumption/year
Tumble dryer C	2500 to 3000 W	32 weeks - 2 x per week	192 kWh
Washing machine A+++	2500 to 3000 W	48 weeks - 4 x per week (0.9 kWh/cycle)	173 kWh
Washing machine B	2500 to 3000 W	48 weeks - 4 x per week (1.35 kWh/cycle)	259 kWh
Iron	750 to 1100 W	48 weeks - 5 hours per week	260 kWh
Vacuum cleaner	650 to 800 W	48 weeks - 2 hours per week	70 kWh

Annual consumption of electrical appliances at the office

Type of appliance		Capacity	Length of use	Consumption/year
Computer with flat screen	On	70 to 80 W	240 days - 4  hours per day	72 kWh
Computer with flat screen	In sleep mode	3 W	365 days - continuously	25 kWh
Low-energy light bulbs		15 to 25 W	365 days - 5  hours per day	34 kWh
Mobile phone charger		5 W	365 days - 1  hour per day	1.85 kWh

Annual consumption of electrical appliances in the bedroom

Type of appliance		Capacity	Length of use	Consumption/year
Computer with cathode monitor	On	100 to 120 W	240 days - 4  hour per day	106 kWh
Computer with cathode monitor	In sleep mode	40 to 60 W	365 days - continuously	400 kWh
TV with cathode ray tube	On	80 to 100 W	335 days - 4  hour per day	121 kWh
TV with cathode ray tube	In sleep mode	4 to 10 W	365 days - continuously	59 kWh
Radio alarm		3 to 6 W	365 days - continuously	20 kWh

Annual consumption of electrical appliances in the bathroom

Type of appliance	Capacity	Length of use	Consumption/year
Electric shaver	8 to 12 W	335 days - 5 mins./day	0.3 kWh
Back-up heating appliance	1000 to 2000 W	240 days - 30 mins./day	180 kWh
Hairdryer	300 to 600 W	48 weeks - 30 mins./day	11 kWh

Source: http://www.energuide.be/en/questions-answers/how-much-energy-do-my-household-appliances-use/71/