Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: How to calculate appliance energy usage?
From: d 
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2004 18:54:34 GMT

"Jamie"  wrote in
news:uJcdd.952$sR2.808@fe61.usenetserver.com: 

> I would suggest two other options
> 
> 1) You can buy a simple device that you plug in between your
> appliance, and the outlet, that will monitor real energy use.
> 
> 2) Put an ammeter around the cord and read what it says.
> 
> Simple math based on the appliance's rating will give you a pretty
> good idea, but at the same time as Turtle notes an electric heater
> will cycle on and off a lot and there's probably no easy way to
> calculate the percentage of time it runs. Some newer ones also have
> variable power output depending on the setting and ambient
> temperature. 
> 
> So #1 is the only way to know how much juice it's really using in a
> day.  #2 will at least tell you what it's really using at any point in
> time. 
> 
> Space heaters are generally a pretty expensive way to heat.. at 10c a
> kwh which is pretty cheap these days, it'll cost you at least a buck a
> day to run a typical space heater (at low heat setting, 750 w, for
> half the day). If the rest of the house is a lot colder - it will
> probably run full time to keep up or you'll need to run it at 1500w.
> Even for a single room it's probably borderline whether it's worth the
> money. 
> 
> Get another blanket is my advice...

I would love to do that, but unfortunately, what is affecting me is the 
cool air I breathe in.  Sounds crazy, but no matter how many blankets I 
pile on, I will still feel chilled, even if I'm sweating from the heat of 
the blankets.  This is caused by some whacky autoimmune-lupus type of thing 
that really hasn't been diagnosed well.  I just know that it's been f*cking 
with me for a number of years now (my sister does has a more acute version 
that has been diagnosed, involving circulation shutting down in the 
extremities).  It's a crazy problem that triggers chills within me for the 
rest of my waking day.  Through trial and error I found that I need to heat 
the house to no less than 68 degrees to avoid it, no matter how many 
blankets I use.  But I've got a 100 year old duplex and a 20 year old 
furnace.  Not a good combination on the wallet.  Too broke to get a more 
modernly efficient furnace (big problem is also little in the way of cold 
air returns on 2nd floor where I live.)  

It's a small room, so the little floor heater can heat it up, but in the 
time that is cycles off, I start getting that cold air in my lungs again, 
so I may switch to one of those DeLonghi oil filled radiators that come 
with 700 watt - 1500 watt setting and put near the head of the bed.  If it 
doesn't prove any cheaper, I suppose the heaters could still be handy to 
have around at times. 

I want one of those little plug in devices you mentioned.  I guess Radio 
Shack is a likely source for that.

thanks