clemsonfor
Super Member
Well you guys are just taking the mill and dividing by Kwh. If i do that i'm at $0.14 kwh or just a bit more. i have no external light either that tacs on a charge.
Electricity rates
- Thread starter Bob Ha
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clemsonfor
Super Member
I guess this to is the problem. Its pretty humid most of the time where i live. If you run open windows, despite it being 85-88 degrees when you come home in the afternoon IN YOUR house in the 4 summer months, you will have sticky sheets at night and paper thats dosent crinkle is just will be limp like on many days!!
Canada_CT230
Platinum Member
I have one of those measuring meters to monitor parasitic draw. Here is what I found and unplugged yesterday:
Alarm Clocks x 3
TVs x 2
Satellite Receivers x 2
Cordless Phone Bases x 2
Desktop Computer x 1
I have these in several rooms and all told it adds up to 110 Watts.
110W x 24 HRS/Day = 2.64 KW/Day
2.64 KW/Day x 365 Days/Yr = 963.6 KW
At our rate of about $0.07/KW that is a savings of $67.45 per year.
Stuff is unplugged now...we only kept 2 charging bases for the 4 phone handsets, turned off the desktop computer and hopefully I see the $67 of savings.
Alarm Clocks x 3
TVs x 2
Satellite Receivers x 2
Cordless Phone Bases x 2
Desktop Computer x 1
I have these in several rooms and all told it adds up to 110 Watts.
110W x 24 HRS/Day = 2.64 KW/Day
2.64 KW/Day x 365 Days/Yr = 963.6 KW
At our rate of about $0.07/KW that is a savings of $67.45 per year.
Stuff is unplugged now...we only kept 2 charging bases for the 4 phone handsets, turned off the desktop computer and hopefully I see the $67 of savings.
LD1
Epic Contributor
I heat what you are saying there. But let me play devils advocate here...
That $67/year is ONLY if you leave the stuff unplugged ALL DAY EVERYDAY. But you have to plug it back in to use it.
In my case, the phone charges overnight, so that is ~8hours off of the savings.
Between me, my wife, and the little one, TV is probabally on 4-5hrs a day.
Alarmclocks....for the little savings involved, and the PITA to re-set the time everyday (or eatting batteries), I think I'll leave mine plugged in.
And same with the cable box. I dont know about you guys, but mine takes about 15 minutes to boot up after a power loss. For me, I'll just leave it plugged in:thumbsup:
Same with the computer. (I assume your "paasitic" draw is assuming the computer is in sleep mode). I'd rather pay the extra pennies vs having to wait on it to boot up. That is an extra 5 minutes I could have spent here browsing TBN:thumbsup:
So all told, I doubt youd see a $50/ year savings at BEST. And for me, the daily inconvience isnt worth the mear ~13 cents per day savings.
Bird
Epic Contributor
The electric companies all offer a wide variety of "plans" and claim to make them simple. Anyway, I'm currently on a 12 month contract with an Energy Charge of 7.5563 cents per KWh. But then you add in the Base Charge of $4.95 and the Delivery Charge of 2.8006 cents per KWh. Now of course it varies with usage; 500 or less kWh is 12.6 cents per KWh, over 1000 is 11.5 cents, over 2000 is 10.9 cents, etc. Keeping it real simple, right?:laughing: My last bill was $118.93 for 1016 KWh, so that amounts to about 11.71 cents per KWh.
grsthegreat
Super Star Member
i agree about the parasitic draw costs. there are enough led lights on in my house to be able to walk around at night without any lights turned on. im not sure why every piece of electronics needs led lights and clocks on them. I tried turning off the power to my tv and sat boxes, but it takes 10 minutes to reboot back up then.
it does suck. there has to be a way to provide a low power circuit to maintain memory on these devices without the huge draw there taking every day. the companies that produce these things just dont care.
funny thing is though, most of the people i meet that complain about this draw have no issue with leaving their computers run 24/7 so they can be online instantly..... funny aint it.
it does suck. there has to be a way to provide a low power circuit to maintain memory on these devices without the huge draw there taking every day. the companies that produce these things just dont care.
funny thing is though, most of the people i meet that complain about this draw have no issue with leaving their computers run 24/7 so they can be online instantly..... funny aint it.
Canada_CT230
Platinum Member
Almost all the items I unplugged were in spare bedrooms and we don't use them very often. So hitting the power bar switch for the TV / SAT / Clock when we have a guest is no big deal.
The only thing on that list that we will interact with is the desktop computer and we don't use it that much but it was running all the time. So to boot it up once a month or so is fine.
The other thing is that we reduced the number of cordless phone charging bases...4 to 2. So a short walk to the living room to charge the kitchen cordless is no big deal.
They all add up I guess and these don't make much extra work to power back up so I guess they will stay.
Around here in Manitoba, Canada I pay about $0.677 per KWH and pay a $6.85 admin fee. The hydro utility has paid for me to spray foam my basement walls, bought me CFL bulbs and will pay for attic insulation, pipe wrap, etc. They do this so they can save me electricity so they can sell it south of the border for top dollar. Thanks for eating so much power and buying from Canada and keeping my bill low.
So not much change in daily living but I'll take the $67.
dmccarty
Super Star Member
I unplug some of the wall chargers when not in use because they are not in use. It might save a couple dollars a year.
Waste Not Want Not is what Granny always said. :thumbsup:
Leaving the computer on does cost but you can get something for the price. My system runs anti virus scans at night, file updates, and backups. My system uses about 120 watts, do the math and presto!, it cost me $8.76 a month to run the PC. That is about 5-7% of our power bill. That is a good percentage of power use but worth it for me.
Later,
Dan
LD1
Epic Contributor
They are already low power. But I guess it is how one defines "low power" and "huge draw".
Canada_ct230 mentioned that with 3 Alarm Clocks, 2 TVs, 2 Satellite Receivers, 2 Cordless Phone Bases, and 1 Desktop Computer all only adds up to 2.64kwh PER DAY. Even at my 11 cent/kwh rate, that is still only 30 whole whopping cents PER DAY for TEN ITEMS.
I certainly wouldnt call that a "huge" draw
clemsonfor
Super Member
Plus that 67 $ a year is less than $6 month. You can eat out 1 less time a month and be there. But yes you do get something for eating out. I am also playing devils advocate. And i always hear them saying to unplug your cable box etc. UMMMM do any of you watch any tv, or have a DVR. If you unplug the **** thing it wont record any of your shows. You have to have it plugged in every day your not home so that it will record. Yea if i had a power strip i could flip it. Very few of my shows tape during the day unless i missed something or its reruns we record. But sometimes we go out to eat or visit someone so if we dont plug the DVR in and i miss Deadliest catch or Mythbusters or momma misses her Housewives that will be the last time it will ever be unplugged!!!!!!! I know you can retape it at a later date but sometimes it dont auto reset and you have to manual set each retape event.
That said i unplug small appliances and dont leave chargers in when i think about it. But my alam clocks stay plugged in in my bedroom, guest beds i have been know to pull the plug on.
CFL's are so cheap these days that if you replace your most use 10 bulbs with them you will see more difference than some other tactics like unplugging the washer each time and having to fish your cord out from behind it each load.