February 4 – What uses how much?

Knowing what uses how much power can help you save  

Three of the biggest shortcomings about power bills are 1) you have to pay them; 2) they lump everything together, so you can’t tell what uses how much; and 3) they arrive after the fact, so don’t give you any idea of when all that power was used.  With no clear information, it’s hard to know what to do to save power.

Fortunately, there are solutions!  Here are a few ideas:

1. Borrow a power meter from your local library, and do a little detective work.  Power meters are pretty simple to use: you simply plug something into them and they tell you how much power that item uses, in watts.  You don’t need to know anything more about watts than this: a high number means a lot of power is being used, and a low number means little power is being used.

For guidance, here’s what my power meter tells me items in my home use:

ItemWatts
Nightlight (incandescent bulb)3
Nightlight (LED bulb).6
Electric razor2
Cell phone (charging)3
Hair dryer1500
Toaster780
Coffee maker830
Microwave oven1600
  
4 foot baseboard heater*1000
Hot water heater*3000
Clothes dryer*4000-4500

*researched, as they’re not measurable with a power meter

High number bad, low number less bad. 

But another key piece of the power puzzle is the length of time something is on / running / working.  For example, a toaster uses a lot of power when it’s working, but it’s usually only working for short bursts of time, so it’s not likely to be responsible for a big power bill.  On the other hand, baseboard heaters, hot water heaters and clothes dryers use a lot of power and do run for extended periods of time, so reducing their use will very likely make a difference in a power bill.

2. Go to your utility’s website and explore your account for new and detailed information.  If your household has a new smart power meter, you likely can now go online and see how much power your home is using on a weekly, daily, hourly or even quarter-hourly basis.  (Caveat: it takes about a day for data to be posted, so it’s not quite real time.)  With that information and a little detective work, you can find out when and why you’re using the most power, and then take steps to save.

3. For a deeper dive into energy literacy and savings, consider getting an energy monitoring system for your home.  Systems such as this one and this one (no endorsements intended) enable you to see how much power everything in your home is using in real time on your phone or computer, and even remotely control some items.

Energy literacy is key to saving energy, and will become even more important as power rates continue to rise.  So take tome time to learn, and then get ready to save.  Hopefully the above ideas help!

In the news:

China built a record 357 gigawatts of wind and solar power in 2024.  (For comparison, 3 gigawatts would run all of New Brunswick on most winter days.)

The US Supreme Court rejects a bid by American oil and gas companies to block lawsuits against them for climate damage and liability.

Wind and solar are providing 100% of California’s power for extended periods, debunking a common myth about renewables.

Quotable

“Nobody can embargo sunlight.  No cartel controls the sun.  Its energy will not run out.  It will not pollute the air or poison our waters.  The sun’s power needs only to be collected, stored and used.”          

– US President Jimmy Carter, May 7, 1978

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