By far the most common question we get from customers who are considering installing Central Air Conditioning is what it will cost to operate it in the Edmonton Area. The formula for calculating the exact cost can be fairly intimidating but the following Laymans rule of thumb will provide you a budgetary amount that will only be slightly higher or slightly lower once the bills start coming in. Determine the Amperage of your unit.  For a 13 SEER unit which is the most common in Edmonton  a 2 ton unit is typically 17 amps, a 3 ton unit 19 amps and a 4 ton unit 21 amps Calculate the wattage used by your unit. All Central Air Units are wired to run on 240 volts so to calculate your wattage multiply the amps by 240.  for a two ton unit it would be 17 x 240 = 4080 watts Electricity is billed by KWh, to determine the KWh for the size of your unit divide the wattage used by 1000. In this case  4080 / 1000 = 4.08 KWH Multiply your cost per KWH, approximately 12.7 cents in the Edmonton area by your KWH.

In the case of this 2 ton unit  12.7 x 4.08 =  51.81 cents per hour would be your approximate cost of operation. If your unit ran for 24 hours a day the cost to operate it would be $12.43 per day or 375.00 per month. A properly sized air conditioner does not run 24 hours a day, not even in 40 degree heat without any drop in temperature at night. As a general rule and assuming you set your thermostat to Cool to 21 degrees Celsius you can determine how many hours your unit will run during the day by using the following factors: Multiply your 24 hours cost per month by the above factors to determine your approximate monthly cost based on weather patterns in Edmonton. In this case, the two ton unit operating with average outdoor temperatures of 26 degrees would  be $375.00 x .25 = $93.75 per month. Click on Return to news at the bottom of page and see our post  "save on your AC utility  bills" from June of 2014 for suggestions on how to reduce your monthly AC bill while still keeping your home comfortably cool

While you may think that the main consoles are much the same when it comes to energy use, in truth this isn’t the case at all. team analysed the amount of game time you can get for a penny. The results, it’s fair to say, were startling, as the table below shows: How much gaming does a penny buy? So, according to our calculations, one penny will buy you a mammoth 6 hours and 34 minutes minutes on our best buy tariff, making the Wii almost ten times more energy efficient than its nearest rival, the Xbox, which comes in way behind with 41 minutes. Trailing in last place is the PS3, with 1p getting you just 33 minutes of game time at best. In real terms, this means that six hours’ daily gaming on a PS3 will cost you around £5.49 a month using a standard electricity tariff, and £3.32 on the best buy; that means switching could save you £1.17 a month on just one appliance. While that may not sound a lot on its own, when you add it to the cost of running your laptops, TVs, washing machines and hair straighteners, it can all contribute to a pretty tidy sum!

So how much do your other appliances cost to run? Here’s a rundown of typical usage for each product and the cost of this on a standard tariff. >Cost per month (£) Air Con (8 hours per day) Electric heater (2 hours per day)car ac repair in mobile al Cooker (Meals for a family of 4 every day)parts of home ac unit Washing Machine (weekly washing for family of 4)window ac unit won't work 32” LCD TV (5 hours per day) Lights [60 watts] (4 hours in the evening) Microwave (10 minutes per day) Vacuum Cleaner (2 hours a week) Hair dryer (5 minutes per day, 4 times a week) Hair Straighteners (5 minutes per day, 4 times a week) As you can see, the biggest costs are typically on managing the temperature of your home.

For those that rely on air conditioning during the summer, you can clearly see the massive amount of energy used by doing so – equally, electric heaters are also pretty pricey. It might sound obvious, but this clearly shows that simple things like keeping the door shut or opening a window (depending on the weather) could go a long, long way to reducing your energy bills drastically. If you’re looking for more tips to cut your energy use, we’ve got an exclusive video interview with E.ON's energy efficiency manager Kevin Bryant, which could be just the thing you need.OK, so you finally found the right dehumidifier for your home, paid some money for it and hooked it up. While a dehumidifier will set you back a certain amount of money, it will cost you some cash to run it as well as keep it maintained. Don’t worry though, you won’t have to sell your furniture to pay for it. Let’s see how much it costs to actually own a dehumidifier and what you can do to cut down those costs.

As is the case with any electrical appliance, a dehumidifier needs power in order to function. The actual costs of running a dehumidifier are dependent on several factors. First of all, it depends on the make and model you opt for. Also, power consumption can go up or down depending on the actual humidity levels. Of course, your electricity rate plays a significant role too. However, there are some general guidelines you can follow if you want to cut down on your electricity bill. First of all, look for a dehumidifier which has an Energy Star certificate because these units consume a lot less power. It is true you can buy a unit like this without the certification (because it’s cheaper initially), but it will cost you more in the long run. You can get a better idea of how much a dehumidifier will cost you if you divide its wattage (which should be written somewhere in its specs) by 1000. This tells you how many kilowatts it consumes per hour. You then multiply that number with your rate per kilowatt-hour, and then again with the number of hours during which the unit’s on.

This should give you an accurate idea of how much money it will cost you to run a dehumidifier. If you can’t find the wattage listed, multiply its amperage and voltage numbers instead. Having a dehumidifier can also save you money in the long run. Well, remember how you crank up the air conditioning when it’s too hot? When you start to feel hot and sweaty, it’s not just down to room temperature. Relative humidity plays a big role too. If you have a dehumidifier, this will help to keep it down so you won’t need to use your air conditioning as often (which can be expensive). As far as maintenance costs go, dehumidifiers are really cheap because they don’t need a lot in that respect. The only thing that will cost you extra is a replacement air filter, and even those can last for several months, or even up to a year. The maintenance process basically involves removing excess moisture from the device, replacing the hose and general cleaning. All things considered, dehumidifiers are really cheap to run and maintain.