Wednesday, February 10, 2016

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)
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 wattsDishwasher (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 applianceCapacityLength of useConsumption / year
Combi fridge-freezer A+150 to 200 W365 days - continuously201 kWh
Combi fridge-freezer C200 to 350 W365 days - continuously500 kWh
Dishwasher1200 W48 weeks - 5 x per week288 kWh
Coffee machine500 to 1000 W335 days - 10 mins./day42 kWh
Cooker hood70 to 150 W335 days - 40 mins./day25 kWh
Microwave oven1000 to 1500 W48 weeks - 1.5 h/week90 kWh
Conventional electric oven2000 to 2500 W48 weeks - 1.5 h/week162 kWh

Annual consumption of electrical appliances in the living room 

Type of applianceCapacityLength of useConsumption/year
LCD TVOn90 to 250 W335 days - 4  hours per day241 kWh
LCD TVIn sleep mode3 W365 days - continuously22 kWh
old Plasma TVOn261 to 344 W335 days - 4  hours per day402 kWh
old Plasma TVIn sleep mode3 W365 days - continuously22 kWh
LED TVOn20 to 60 W335 days - 4  hours per day54 kWh
LED TVIn sleep mode0.3 W365 days - continuously2,2 kWh
Low-energy light bulbs12 W335 days - 5  hours per day20 kWh
Game console20 to 180 W5 to 6 x per week - 1h20mins.
= 387 hours per year
7.75 to 69.5 kWh
TVD/ADSL decoder 365 days - continuously277 kWh + 112 kWh
= 389 kWh
Halogen lamps300 W335 days - 5  hours per day503 kWh

Annual consumption of electrical appliances in the laundry room

Type of applianceCapacityLength of useConsumption/year
Tumble dryer C2500 to 3000 W32 weeks - 2 x per week192 kWh
Washing machine A+++2500 to 3000 W 48 weeks - 4 x per week (0.9 kWh/cycle)173 kWh
Washing machine B2500 to 3000 W48 weeks - 4 x per week (1.35 kWh/cycle)259 kWh
Iron750 to 1100 W48 weeks - 5 hours per week260 kWh
Vacuum cleaner650 to 800 W48 weeks - 2 hours per week70 kWh

Annual consumption of electrical appliances at the office

Type of applianceCapacityLength of useConsumption/year
Computer with flat screenOn70 to 80 W240 days - 4  hours per day72 kWh
Computer with flat screenIn sleep mode3 W365 days - continuously25 kWh
Low-energy light bulbs15 to 25 W 365 days - 5  hours per day34 kWh
Mobile phone charger5 W365 days - 1  hour per day1.85 kWh

Annual consumption of electrical appliances in the bedroom

Type of applianceCapacityLength of useConsumption/year
Computer with cathode monitorOn100 to 120 W240 days - 4  hour per day106 kWh
Computer with cathode monitorIn sleep mode40 to 60 W365 days - continuously400 kWh
TV with cathode ray tubeOn80 to 100 W335 days - 4  hour per day121 kWh
TV with cathode ray tubeIn sleep mode4 to 10 W365 days - continuously59 kWh
Radio alarm3 to 6 W365 days - continuously20 kWh

Annual consumption of electrical appliances in the bathroom

Type of applianceCapacityLength of useConsumption/year
Electric shaver8 to 12 W335 days - 5 mins./day0.3 kWh
Back-up heating appliance1000 to 2000 W240 days - 30 mins./day180 kWh
Hairdryer300 to 600 W48 weeks - 30 mins./day11 kWh
Source: http://www.energuide.be/en/questions-answers/how-much-energy-do-my-household-appliances-use/71/

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