how do I figure the cost of watts?
Can you help me figure this out. I know it should be fairly simple but I just don't seem to get it. Lets say I have a Kill A Watt. I plug something into that Kill A Watt and it reads 55 watts. How ...
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jcpainter wrote:
Thank you drycamper11. If they truly will give a total usage for the time they were plugged in, that would work perfectly for determining the cost to dry clothes for 1 hr, 2 hrs, etc.
Much appreciated.
The Kill-A-Watt will do the job, but I also looked at the link you provided to this device you previously purchased and AFAICT, it it looks like it will also do what you want, with a bit of fooling around.
I read the manual and it says it starts with the instantaneous watts being used, but after 45 minutes, it switches to an averaging mode for the cost.
Here's how you can use it:
Plug it in and run the dryer through one cycle. Wait one full day and then press the cost button. The cost button will then tell you what it would cost to run the dryer every day for a month or every day for a year. Divide by the number of days in a month or year to get the cost of one run. It assumes a 30 day month and a 365 day year. You could also check the cost after 2 hours, and it will assume you run it 12 times a day, so divide the month cost by 360 (12 times 30).
The above method sort of assumes that your dryer does not draw power when you aren't running a cycle (e.g. it does not have a clock or timer or something else that uses power). (It adds in the cost of a day of being off whatever that cost is) You can find out easily if it has phantom drain power usage by just pressing the watt button when the dryer's off. If it shows zero, it doesn't draw power when off.
If it does draw power when off, you'd have to figure out how much and factor in the cost of that power draw (if you leave it plugged in when not in use - or subtract that drain cost if you unplug it after each use) to get an accurate number for usage cost over month/year. It's not hard, but it's probably more work than needed.
I like the Kill-A-Watt, particularly when measuring the voltage and frequency of a generator or the voltage in an RV park pedestal, but since you already have a device, you can make use of it if you want.
I hope this helps.
