Comments
rhudejo t1_j0496h9 wrote
There are some easy rule of thumbs to see how much power stuff is using:
- If it gets really hot, it sucks lots of power: good hair dryers, heaters, kettles, ACs, induction hobs (these can be huge, 5000W+ when running at max on multiple zones), beefy PCs,...
- If it uses a transformer (so less than the mains voltage), it does not use lots of power: anything that runs on USB, laptops, routers, door bells...
Thats it, these simple rules should cover 90+% of your appliances. There are of course exceptions but these are not typically part of a household like stuff with beefy motors like industrial power tools, elevator motors, ...
SpaceBucketFu t1_j05o370 wrote
Your comment is kind of misleading. Having a transformer is kind of irrelevant. The truth of the statement is anything that creates heat in direct use of the appliance. So yeah, hair dryers, kettles, shit like that. A transformer just changes voltage, and the power supplies you mentioned aren’t even referred to as “transformers”. They’re actually switch mode power supplies. They have small transformers in them, but that’s not the primary component of the device either.
Dje4321 t1_j0kuc93 wrote
This is correct except for the transformer part. Loads of appliances use a transformer while consuming huge amount of electricity (IE Microwave and Gaming PC). Its just used to move the total voltage up and down and has no effect on the total power draw as the amperage drawn will change proportionally to the voltage. (10V@1A == 1V@10A)
davidw_- t1_j04d3g9 wrote
Them why does my toaster always fuck with the electricity in the house?
Willy_wolfy t1_j04ozbh wrote
Your toaster does use a reasonable amount power but for a short period of time so realistically it's negligible unless you're using your toaster to try and heat your house.
celestiaequestria t1_j05tf89 wrote
The wiring in your walls is probably rated for 15 amps, depending on when your house was built the gauge and length of that wire run will vary. Along that wire run there are multiple plug sockets - again, number will vary with age of home.
Let's say your toaster is plugged into the last socket on that wire that runs back to the breaker box in your house - so it's using the full length of the wire. You turn it on and the heating coil wants to pull 15 Amps (1800 watts on a 120v) to heat up. So on one end of the long wire, you have 1800 watts being pulled, and the other end your breaker box - and that's the full capacity of the wire.
So what happens when something plugged into one of the sockets along the run is needing to draw power? Weird stuff! The voltage and power availability is affected by what's called "sag" and it's having to fight against the draw of the heating coil. If you wanted to make it even more funky, plug a motor like a blender into the same circuit - as many people do in the kitchen.
Basically, you're going from the illusion of how electricity works ("you plug it in and it just works") to the reality of how electricity works ("holy crap connecting a bunch of high power devices with thin bits of wire causes problems").
celestiaequestria t1_j05socm wrote
The primary power draws in your home are heating, cooling, and large appliances like washers, dryers, fridges, dishwashers, and hot water heaters. Those are the places to look if you have a high power bill and want to save money.
You can also address things like heat loss - for example, adding weatherstripping to old windows to seal up gaps, and adding a heavy thermal-liner curtain, can significantly lower your heating bills. Replace all light bulbs in your home with energy-efficient LEDs and check any appliance older than 20 years with a power meter to see if it's in line with modern standards - some will be fine, some will be wildly overusing and can be replaced to save yourself money.
lemlurker t1_j01skmn wrote
this is pretty basic right? a kettle uses 3000w for 1-2min but a tv uses 100-200w but continuously for hours... so 100-200*2 hrs or 3000*0.033 or 400 wh vs 99wh
Mango_In_Me_Hole t1_j01vnwq wrote
The watts of the kettle don’t really matter. There is very little power waste in a kettle, so a low-power kettle will still use the same amount of energy as a high-power kettle. The only difference is the amount of time it takes to boil the water.
A litre of water generally takes about 100Wh to boil. In my family, the kettle could easily be used 4-5 times in one day, adding up to around 500Wh per day.
Also 200W is insane for a modern TV. My 50in LED TV only uses about 60W. I’d have to watch tv for more than 8 hours per day for it to use as much energy as the kettle. And in my case, it’s only turned on for about 3 hours per day.
Even if the kettle was only used four times per day, it would still consume more than twice the electricity of my TV.
diacewrb OP t1_j01wd9z wrote
A lot of people still have and use older less efficient flat panels that aren't LED backlit and some older folk still have have their CRTs.
A TV isn't like a smartphone where you upgrade every year or 2 then keep the old one in the back of a drawer somewhere. Getting rid of you old TV for a newer one when it still works isn't really a consideration for many folk.
SatanLifeProTips t1_j0307ov wrote
TV power consumption has been going back up. Because almost everyone now tends to upsize to a bigger tv when they upgrade. A 65” LCD probably drinks more power than your 42” cold cathode backlit LCD or your 30” CRT.
Bgrngod t1_j0356oh wrote
My 65" OLED pulls around 45w when the screen is all black and usually around 150-250w when playing games on it.
I don't have a CRT around anymore to test, but did have one about a decade ago. It was a 32" and I don't remember it pulling as much as my OLED does now.
SatanLifeProTips t1_j039oig wrote
Because an OLED has REAL black. It’s off. This is the correct way to display video.
LCD is awful. Once you see that grey bleeding into black it’s all you can see.
Bgrngod t1_j03ra0i wrote
Yup. This is a big reason I waited as long as I did to get a 4k TV. I wanted that shit to look amazing. And it does!
SatanLifeProTips t1_j03vdq4 wrote
Me too. Held onto my plasma until the bitter end.
lemlurker t1_j01vycv wrote
But that's you tho. Everyone's usage is different. I pretty much only use the kettle to boil water for cooking so max once a day. And I was going off a bright large TV that are generally less energy efficient but 100-200w covers most. It's all about usage and use times.
Mango_In_Me_Hole t1_j01xet9 wrote
Right but this is an article from The Guardian comparing the energy cost of appliances in the UK. People in the UK and Ireland often use their kettled a lot. Multiple times per day.
And LED TVs are pretty much standard now. It’d be hard to find a TV that consumes anywhere close to 200W. 100W is more plausible, but even at that point it’s still wrong to assume that the TV will use more electricity than the kettle in the average UK home.
lemlurker t1_j01xqmm wrote
My pc monitor alone has a 240w PSU. And it's small. HDR TVs chew power
salsation t1_j01zji2 wrote
A power supply is rated for more than its intended constant load. Have you measured actual power use?
what595654 t1_j02mkkl wrote
So? The rating on a power supply has nothing to do with the actual power usage of the device.
Mango_In_Me_Hole t1_j01ycz7 wrote
https://ecocostsavings.com/tv-wattage/
> On average, modern TVs use 58.6W when on and 1.3W on standby
PC monitors are different.
LazerWolfe53 t1_j023a4f wrote
But for context the average tv isn't modern
LoafyLemon t1_j027g9d wrote
It's not too bad with non-hdr displays.
An LED PC monitor repurposed as a TV screen uses a whooping 9.6-10.6 watts per hour. It's an older 1080p monitor with inefficient (at the time) backlighting.
SatanLifeProTips t1_j031bnp wrote
I have power monitoring in my house using Home Assistant and a iotawatt. My custom gaming rig (3070/5800x cpu) pulls 600W when I’m gaming. 65” OLED is a couple of hundred watts.
Heat pumps were by far the best power consumption investment. If you have electric resistive heating just bite the bullet and get the heat pump. My 3400 sq ft shop costs less than half to heat when compared with the boiler. And I keep it at 16-19C depending on the time of day. If you live in a cold climate (more than 20 days averaging below -20C) go with a ground source heat pump not a air source model.
Our Dryer remains the elephant in the room. But it’s old and works really good. 6kW of heating power baby. But the new dryers suuuuuuuck right now. They clamped down on the power efficiency rules so the new ones use way less power but have to run twice as long to dry so that is a no go for us. Heat pump dryers are starting to show up but they still suck. They won’t suck in a few years so we are waiting. Right now it’s like ‘early emission controlled carbureted engines’. They still suck.
NastyBooty t1_j031mdh wrote
Just go american and use a microwave
SatanLifeProTips t1_j02zyzd wrote
My 3kW kettle takes 42 seconds to make 1 giant mug of tea.
I installed this in my Canadian kitchen. Because it kicks ass.
peds4x4 t1_j04f1zn wrote
I have for last couple of years used a breville hotcup. It only boils 1 mugs worth of water and in about 15 seconds. New ones now are adjustable so you can do an expresso size up to a big mug. (UK)
dregsofgrowler t1_j03q0y0 wrote
That is energy not power. A kettle draws more power that a TV, well there may be some mental TV somewhere I suppose. However, on average the total energy used by a TV will be higher if it is on for around 15x longer than a kettle.
day7seven t1_j022sb7 wrote
It cost 24.89 per use for a washer?! If that's true I should wash my clothes at a laundromat instead of at home because it is way cheaper.
diacewrb OP t1_j0249uy wrote
24.89 pence which is about 31 cents for the yanks here.
But then there is the cost of buying the machine in the first place as well.
Unless your local laundromat is insanely cheap in comparison.
day7seven t1_j0283n3 wrote
That makes more sense
tripcy t1_j0419vi wrote
Electricity in the UK is also 3X higher than in Canada/US.
FlyoverHate t1_j03v85v wrote
And that's just the electricity. The cost of water is the biggie there.
HaikuBotStalksMe t1_j02sjpn wrote
I call bullshit. My bill used to be $89-$90 a month. Laundry was done at least weekly.
Czar_Petrovich t1_j03w4oe wrote
It literally says cost per use (p) above the table in the article...
HaikuBotStalksMe t1_j044bvl wrote
I'm going by what the guy said. I'm a Redditor. We don't click articles.
Educational-News2334 t1_j01ve28 wrote
Wait!! Don’t click on that link!!! Wait my Reddit friends, for the people to comment what the article is about…
killercow777 t1_j01rtib wrote
TLDR; No it doesn’t, not even directly compared in the article.