Household Appliances

Appliances can be found literally in every room in our homes today. Try counting them, you will be astonished to see how many you have. The average electric bill is about $50./mo. That is $600./yr. An average refrigerator cost about $300./yr.

Therefore all the rest of your appliances electrical cost is equal to that one refrigerator's cost per year. If we think about this for a while, you will see why your electric bill is not $50./mo. If you had two refrigerators, it's cost would be double of all you other appliances and if you had three, it would be triple. When it comes to appliances the two factors that affect our electricity bills are kilowatt hours and number of appliances. Kilo is a number that means 1000. Watt is a standard increment, like an inch or a foot. Hours stand for time. For reasons of explanation these numbers are being round off. An average frost free refrigerator is usually rated at 400 watts.

The refrigerating and defrosting operate about 15 hours a day. The average cost per kilowatt is $.13. To determine the annual cost of this refrigerator you get the annual operating time by multiplying 15 hours by 365 days equals 5475 hours a year. Then multiply this by 400 watts and the figure is 21900000. Then multiply this by $.13 and the figure is 284700. Then divide this by 1000 and you get the annual cost of operation for this refrigerator at $284.70. For most appliances the amount of wattage and time of operation is not nearly as much as a refrigerator. Take a microwave oven that uses 1300 watts but is used less than 200 hours a year, the cost of operation is less than $20/yr. On the other hand a 100 watt light bulb that's on for six hours a day cost more to operate than the microwave, a little bit less than $30./yr.

The question is, how many microwaves do you have and how many 100 watt light bulbs? There is a separate section for lighting. When considering buying an energy efficient appliance you have to consider the cost of the appliance, the cost of operating a normal appliance verses the energy appliance (how you would save by buying the appliance) and the life of the appliance.

An example is a dishwasher that is used everyday. The dishwasher takes about 45 minutes a wash ( 365 X .75). This comes out to less than 300 hours a year. The average washer uses 1300 watts and the average cost per kilowatt is $.13. This comes out to about $50./yr. The average life of a dishwasher is 11 years. A new average dishwasher cost $400. and an energy efficient one $600. The saving or difference is $200. The sales person tells you the energy efficient dishwasher will save you 20% on your operating cost. 20% of $50. equals $10. Times eleven years ( life of appliance) and you get $110. In other words it cost you $200. more for the appliance that saved a $110.

You will find that most small appliances do not cost a lot to operate. The result is that buying energy efficient small appliances are not worth it. Such as microwaves, toaster ovens, irons and hair dryers, etc. The other consideration is usage. Let's say when you go to work everyday you turn off the air conditioner and when you come home you turn it on. You enjoy the outdoors a lot and when it not that hot out you spend your time on your deck and do not turn on your air conditioner. Buying an energy efficient air conditioner under these circumstances would not be cost effective. Just like with the dishwasher. An average one will do.

On the other hand if you turn on your air conditioner in May and don't turn it off until October, purchasing an energy efficient air conditioner would be very cost effective. Free Appliance Repair Help. This is site some of you may find useful, especially the do it yourselfers. It is also a place to get information on parts and buy them there if you want. Also, from monitoring your home at work via the net to voice commands, an affordable way to make your home smart is here.

One appliance is worth while buying that is energy efficient all the time. That is a refrigerator. It stays plugged in all the time and you cannot turn it on and off at will. The result is the refrigerator stays on the majority of the day and you have little control over that. Energy efficient refrigerators use insulation to make them more efficient.