A Complete Guide to Calculating Appliance Energy Costs

You think your AC is the only thing costing you money. It is not. Your refrigerator is running 24/7. Your pool pump is running 12 hours a day. Your TV is sleeping, not off. Your phone charger is warm. Your microwave clock is glowing. Watts add up. The Appliance Cost Calculator can help you find the worst offenders.

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Appliance Cost Calculator

Estimate annual cost for each appliance — find your biggest energy hogs.

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The formula is simple. Watts times hours per day divided by 1,000 equals kilowatt-hours per day. Kilowatt-hours per day times 365 equals kilowatt-hours per year. Kilowatt-hours per year times your electric rate equals annual cost. The math for my old fridge. 150 watts, running 24 hours a day. 150 times 24 equals 3,600 watt-hours per day. 3,600 divided by 1,000 equals 3.6 kWh per day. 3.6 times 365 equals 1,314 kWh per year. At 20¢ per kWh, that is $263 a year. I replaced that fridge with an ENERGY STAR model that uses 75 watts. 75 times 24 equals 1,800 watt-hours per day. 1.8 kWh per day. 1.8 times 365 equals 657 kWh per year. At 20¢ per kWh, that is $131 a year. I saved $132 a year. The new fridge cost $600. Payback period 4.5 years. I kept the old fridge as a backup in the garage. It is unplugged. The Electric Bill Estimator can help you see the impact of replacing appliances.

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Electric Bill Estimator

Enter your zip code, home size, and usage — see estimated monthly and seasonal costs.

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The biggest energy hog in most Texas homes is the AC. My AC uses 3,500 watts when running. In August, it runs 12 hours a day. That is 3.5 kW times 12 hours equals 42 kWh per day. 42 times 30 days equals 1,260 kWh per month. At 20¢ per kWh, that is $252 a month. Just for AC. The second biggest is the pool pump. My neighbor has a 1.5 horsepower pump. 1.5 horsepower is about 1,120 watts. He runs it 12 hours a day. 1.12 kW times 12 hours equals 13.4 kWh per day. 13.4 times 30 days equals 402 kWh per month. At 20¢ per kWh, that is $80 a month. He switched to a variable speed pump. 1,120 watts at full speed, but he runs it at low speed most of the day. Low speed uses 200 watts. He runs it 24 hours a day at low speed and 2 hours at high speed. Total: 200 times 22 equals 4,400 watt-hours, plus 1,120 times 2 equals 2,240 watt-hours. Total 6,640 watt-hours per day. 6.64 kWh per day. 6.64 times 30 days equals 199 kWh per month. At 20¢ per kWh, that is $40 a month. He saved $40 a month. The pump cost $800. Payback 20 months. The Smart Thermostat Savings Estimator can help you with your AC schedule.

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Smart Thermostat Savings Estimator

Enter your thermostat settings and home size — see estimated savings from programmed setbacks.

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The third biggest hog is the water heater. Electric water heaters use 4,500 watts. They run about 3 hours a day total. 4.5 kW times 3 hours equals 13.5 kWh per day. 13.5 times 30 days equals 405 kWh per month. At 20¢ per kWh, that is $81 a month. I turned down my water heater temperature from 140°F to 120°F. That reduced standby loss. I also wrapped the tank in an insulation blanket. $30. My water heater now runs 2.5 hours a day. Savings: 0.5 hours times 4.5 kW equals 2.25 kWh per day. 2.25 times 30 days equals 67.5 kWh per month. At 20¢ per kWh, that is $13.50 a month. Payback on the blanket: 2.2 months. The Time-of-Use Rate Comparator can help you shift water heating to off-peak hours. The fourth biggest hog is the electric dryer. My dryer uses 3,000 watts. I do 4 loads a week, 1 hour per load. That equals 4 hours a week. 4 hours times 3 kW equals 12 kWh per week. 12 times 52 weeks equals 624 kWh per year. At 20¢ per kWh, that is $125 a year. I switched to drying on a clothesline in summer. My backyard faces south. The sun is free. I saved $125 a year. My shirts smell like outside. That comes to a win. The Solar ROI Calculator is for solar, but I used it to see if a heat pump dryer would save me money. Heat pump dryers use half the energy. But they cost twice as much. I ran the numbers. My current dryer costs $125 a year. A heat pump dryer costs $60 a year. Savings $65 a year. The new dryer costs $1,200. Payback 18 years. Not worth it. The Home Energy Score Calculator can help you prioritize your appliance upgrades. Now, let me tell you about phantom loads. These are devices that use power when they are off. My TV uses 10 watts in standby. My cable box uses 25 watts in standby. My soundbar uses 8 watts. My game console uses 15 watts in sleep mode. My phone charger uses 2 watts with no phone attached. My microwave clock uses 5 watts. My smart speakers use 3 watts each. All of these add up. Let me break down the numbers. 10 plus 25 plus 8 plus 15 plus 2 plus 5 plus 6 equals 71 watts. 71 watts times 24 hours equals 1,704 watt-hours per day. 1.7 kWh per day. 1.7 times 365 equals 620 kWh per year. At 20¢ per kWh, that is $124 a year. I bought a smart power strip for $25. It cuts power to the TV, cable box, and soundbar when the TV is off. I saved $50 a year. Payback 6 months. The game console and phone charger I unplug when not in use. The microwave clock stays on. I am not unplugging the microwave. The Appliance Cost Calculator can help you find your own phantom loads. Your action plan. To startbuy a Kill-A-Watt meter. $30 on Amazon. Plug your appliances into it. It tells you how many watts they use. Measure the fridge, the TV, the computer, the phone charger. You will be surprised. Next upcalculate the annual cost for each appliance using the formula above. List the top five. Replace or modify them. Thenunplug phantom loads. Use a smart power strip. Or just unplug. It costs nothing. Alsoupgrade the worst offenders. Old fridge. Old pool pump. Old water heater. Prioritize by payback period. Shorter payback first. My friend Mark used the Appliance Cost Calculator after his delivery charge shock. He found his pool pump was costing him $80 a month. He switched to a variable speed pump. His payback was 20 months. He is now on month 14. He has almost paid it off. He told me “I wish I had done this years ago.” The monopoly wants you to ignore these numbers. They want you to think your bill is just the cost of living. It is not. It is the cost of inefficient appliances. Fix your appliances. Fix your bill. 开始输出。

A Complete Guide to Calculating Appliance Energy Costs

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