This last summer I wanted to figure out how much my air conditioner cost to run on an hourly basis.

I called the electrical company and they were supposed to get back to me. The next day was the big electrical outage. I figured somehow the whole thing must have been my fault somehow :-)

My idea was based on timing the spinning wheel on the meter. What does each turn of the wheel mean in terms of power usage?

 

Forget the meter...

Is this a central unit (built into furnace) or a window unit? If it's a window unit, it should be fairly easy to find out how many watts it uses - This info will usually be on a plate on the unit or at the back of the owners manual. If there isn't a wattage rating, there may be an amperage rating that we can convert to wattage if we also know the voltage of the unit (120 or 220). Assuming you can find the wattage of the unit (let us know if you can't and we'll go from there...), divide the wattage by 1000 and multiply by the per kilowatt rate shown on your electric bill. This will give you a rough hourly cost to run the unit. If your electric bill is as confusing as mine, you may be able to call the electric company back and simply ask them for the total residential charge per kilowatt hour. That shouldn't require a call back...

Please let us know what you can find.

Doug M.

 

The label says 115 volts 12 amps.

So that's 115 x 12 = 1380 watts. And the power cost is something like 4.5 cents per kilowatt hour so that's something like 6.2
cents an hour. Is that right?

 

It's roughly the cost. Actual usage is probably a little less than that, as the 12A is a maximum current draw for the device, and that's probably higher than the typical usage (when it kicks on is when it draws the most power). But it won't be more expensive than that to run.

 

I doubt your power is only 4.5 cents per KWH. Electric utilities seem to delight in making your bill hard to read. You probably do see a 4.5 number there somewhere, but that's probably not the total cost.

Doug suggested you call your utility. That's a good idea.

 

We were capped at 4.3 but that was a joke. It will raise shortly......


"TORONTO - Ontario's electricity rate freeze will thaw next spring. The month-old Liberal government has introduced legislation lifting the current cap of 4.3 cents per kilowatt hour.

As of April 1, 2004, electricity rates will be 4.7 cents per kilowatt hour - for the first 750 kilowatts of power used. Anthing above that will cost 5.5 cents per kilowatt hour."




What does it cost where you live?

 

It's 0.069 cent/KWH in MS witha 0.004 cent adjustment for fuel costs.

Bugman

 

I'm not familiar with Canada, but where I live we pay separately for the electricity and for the delivery of electricity. I have to add two numbers together to determine my charge per KWH.

 

In Ontario I pay for electricity, delivery charge to me(basic and charge by volume),cost to deliver electricity to them,Debt retirement charge, and GST.

$12.21 worth of electricity cost me $80.28 from Hydro One.

 

Mine cost 10 cents a KWH, are you lucky.

 

I know there is a formula by counting and timing the revolutions and using the kH on the plate on the meter. I'll try to find it and let you know. (I don't remember it off the top of my head).

 

Any luck with that formula?

 

I've never tried it but look here
http://jidanni.org/geo/taipower/meter_en.html and
http://www.earth.uni.edu/EECP/elem/mod2_math.html