How much electricity is my AC unit using when it's on "fan"? September 28, 2008   Subscribe Does my window air conditioner use just as much electricity on the "fan" setting as it does on the "cool" setting?This page contains some notes and measurements on electricity consumption of various household items. I had to work out the cost of running a server for a year and was surprised at how many units of electricity were used, so I decided to start recording other householdThe items I've listed here are things which are typically left plugged in (on standby). Electricity consumption (at least in the UK) is measured and paid for by units, where one unit is the equivalent of 1 kilowatt hour. light bulb left on for ten hours uses 1unit of electricity (100watts x 10hours = 1000 watt hours = 1kwh) as would a 2kw fan heater left on for half an hour. The following table is provided as a guide and shows how many units (kwh) devices would use according to their rated power consumption:

So a 100 watt bulb left on 24 hours a day for a year will use 876 units of electricity, which at (say) 15p per unit would work out at £131.40. time switch to switch that same bulb on for only 8 hours a day would reduce the annual electricity cost down to £43.80 (a saving of £87.60). So if the time switch cost £20 then it would pay for itself more than times over within aContrast that with a modern high efficiency 15 watt bulb (which gives out almost as much light) that would use 131.4 units of electricity if left on 24 hours all year, or �20 - a significant saving. If you want to see how long it takes to use one unit of electricity for a device then this is tabulated in the following table: The following table lists the power consumption figures that I have measured for a number of different devices: Almost everything which uses electricity will come with or have on it an indication of how much electricity it uses.

This might not be obvious, because an indication of electricity usage might take any of 1000 watts = 1kw = 1 unit per hour. Using the high school equation: you can work out the wattage provided you know theMains voltage in the UK is notionally 230volts, in much of Europe it is 220 volts and 120 volts in America.should you take window ac units out winter the UK if something draws 2.4amps then the wattage = 230 x 2.4 =3 ton ac unit reviews If this were on a power supply supplying 2.4mini split unit air conditioner troubleshooting amps at 9volts then this would give a notional figure of 21.6 watts. BTUs are unit often used with heating or cooling. For a traditional electric fan heater you can use:

However this equation cannot be used for air conditioning units or heaters other than fan heater types. Treat the above as a guide, as the actual consumption figure will depend on the conditions in which a device is used and any published watts, amps or BTU typically represent the maximum and not the typical If you are concerned about the amount of electricity you are using then there may be alternatives. There is a modern trend towards lower power devices - although you have to balance any cost savings with the purchase cost, so sometimes it will be more economical to wait until something fails and needs replacing. About the author: Brian Cryer is a dedicated software developer and webmaster. For his day job he develops websites and desktop applications as well as providing IT services. He moonlights as a technical author and consultant.When we get our electricity bills, it shows that we have used a certain number of units for the given period.

When we go to buy appliances, most of them have watts mentioned on them. If you find it difficult to understand the relation between the two, then you are not alone. Electricity bill and its components are confusing to many and with this article we will try to explain what are watt, kilowatt and a unit of electricity. Power and Energy/Electricity are two words that are used so much for each other that many feel that they mean the same. Interestingly both of them have a very different meaning. Power is the rate at which electricity is used and energy/electricity is the actual consumption. To give an analogy, power is similar to speed but electricity/energy is the actual distance travelled. So        Power x Time = Electricity (or energy) Just like          Speed x Time = Distance Travelled. Power is always represented in watt (W) or kilowatt (kW). A thousand (1000) watts make one kilowatt. So if any appliance is rated as 1.2 kW then it means that it consumes electricity at a rate of 1200 W.

Now as we discussed earlier that power is the rate at which electricity is consumed and not the actual electricity consumed, Watt or Kilowatt just represent the rate at which electricity is consumed per hour. Which means that when you buy a 100 W bulb, it does not consume 100 units of electricity but consumes at a rate of 100 W. A unit (as mentioned on the electricity bills) is represented in kWH or Kilowatt Hour. This is the actual electricity or energy used. If you use 1000 Watts or 1 Kilowatt of power for 1 hour then you consume 1 unit or 1 Kilowatt-Hour (kWH) of electricity. So the reading on the electricity meter represents the actual electricity used. Just like the odometer on your vehicle that shows the actual distance travelled by the vehicle, electricity meter shows the amount of electricity that is used. So a 100-Watt bulb if kept on for 10 hours will consume: 100 x 10 = 1000 Watt-Hour = 1 Kilowatt-Hour (kWH) = 1 units (on your meter). Now with most of the concepts explained we would like to make it easy for you to calculate how much units does any appliance consume.