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Curbing Your Consumption: Appliance Comparison By John Ford The biggest challenge consumers face in their quest for savings on the electricity bill is knowing where to start. Until you measure the consumption of each appliance and see how it compares to others, you will be unable to look at the big picture. This month we'll give some examples that you can use to see where to start. It may even pique your curiosity and motivate you into borrowing a meter and drawing your own big picture. Appliance Watts (On) Watts (Off) Hours/Day kWh/Month Cost/Month Television 75 5 4 12 $1.30 Big Screen TV 600 12 4 80 $8.57 LCD TV 20” 35 5 4 7 $0.78 Fridge (old) 300 (averaged) 24 219 $23.37 Fridge (new) 50 (averaged) 24 37 $3.89 Lamp CF 13 0 6 2 $0.25 Lamp Incand. 60 0 6 11 $1.17 Toaster 1500 0 12 min 9 $0.97 Kettle 1800 0 21 min 19 $2.04 Xbox 300 10 2 25 $2.60 Heater 1500 0 8 91 $9.74 LED Xmas Lights 1 0 24 0.7 $0.08 Xmas Lights 150 0 24 110 $11.68 Halogen x4 200 0 6 55 $5.84 CF x2 46 0 6 8 $0.90 Furnace 550 5 8 136 $14.54 Air Conditioner 5000 5 8 1219 $130.07 Computer 120 15 6 30 $3.21 Porch Light 100 0 12 37 $3.89 Porch Light CF 23 0 12 8 $0.90 Water Heater 3000 0 6 548 $58.41 The values for the table have been picked to try and show some typical numbers, but they may not represent your home. Note the difference between the old and new fridge. Is it cost effective to replace it? Lighting is not necessarily a significant portion of the bill, and is even less so when compact fluorescent bulbs are used. Compare the four 50 watt halogen lamps with the two 23 watt CF bulbs for equivalent lighting. You can see that traditional Christmas lights should be put on a timer, but that LED lights use so little, a timer would add to their consumption. Air Conditioning can dwarf most other consumption. Heating water varies with the number of users, and can also be one of the largest energy hogs. John Ford is a technology consultant, owner of a small energy conservation business, and the Energy Advocate for the Green Party of Ontario.