Small Home Appliances
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How to Measure the Electricity Usage of Your Home Appliances
Dec 28th
Ever calculate how much electricity used by your home appliances and other electric-power equipment at your home? You can find the total usage of your home electricity from your monthly electric bill, but you may want to measure the energy used by each electric-powered items at your home, then how to do the measurement?
No matter what reason you want to measure the energy used by an electric-powered item at your home, basically there are three ways to measure it:
1. Use a simple watt-hour meter
You can use a simple watt-hour meter, which can be purchased at your local store. Just plug-in the device to the watt-hour meter and then plug the meter into the supply point. When the device is drawing current, the watt-hour meter will read the usage. This little device will tell you how much electricity uses at a given moment and over an extended period of time. This simple watt-hour meter is especially useful for finding the amount of electricity usage, measured in kWh for devices that don’t run constantly, like window unit air conditioners and refrigerators.
2. Install a whole-house meter
If you like to monitor whole house energy uses at any give moment, or how much you have used so far for the month, then you might want to consider an installation of a whole-house meter. The meter is similar to the electric meter at your home, but it has extra features that enable you to measure the electricity usage at a selected period of time. Once you press the reset button, the meter reading will be reset to zero, it will record the electricity usage until you stop it. This whole-house meter is very useful for you to monitor monthly electricity usage, which you can use to compare with the figure stated in your electric bill and make sure you are not overcharged.
3. Look at the electric meter
If you don’t want to spend money to buy watt-hour meter or install a whole-house meter, you still can measure the electricity using at a give moment. You just need to make use of your home electric meter.
This is how it can be done:
First, turn off the device you want to measure. In order to accurately measure the electricity usage of the device, you have to turn off the air conditioner and refrigerator because they will affect the reading if they kick in while you are making the measurement. Then, go to your electric meter and measure with a stopwatch on how long it takes for the disc to spin one round. Then, turn on the device you want to measure and go back to your electric meter to measure how much time it takes to spin one round.
Once you have the reading, you are ready to do the calculation. Look on the electric meter find something printed like “kh X.X”, where “X.X” is some number, normally is 7.2. This figure is called Kh factor.
The formula for calculation is: 3.6 x Kh fator / number of seconds = kW
Just plug-in the measurement and the Kh factor into the formula to get the electric usage of the device for a given time. For example, the Kh factor is 7.2. It took 60 seconds for the disc of the electric meter to spin when the device is turned off. And it took 40 second for the disc to spin when the device is turned on. Your first check when device is off showed you were using (3.6×7.2)/60 = 432 watts. With the device turned on, the usage is (3.6×7.2)/40 = 648 watts. By subtracting the 2 figures, you will get 216 watts, which is the power usage of the device selected for power usage measurement.
By: Dave Stilman
How to Troubleshoot Home Appliances
Nov 12th
If you know how to troubleshoot home appliances, it can really make
you cut down expenses and make your savings get bigger. Although, not
all appliance repairs are expensive, the thought of accomplishing
something that you can without relying on somebody else is another
story. You can actually complete other minor repairs yourself. You
will not be able to save money if you make it a habit to replace
something if they break or call a technician every now and then. It
will really cost you a lot. So, it is high time that you learn how to
handle minor problems that you can solve on your own.
CAUTION! You need to know you understand the basic things before
trying it out on your own for your family and your own safety.
General Troubleshooting Tips
1 – Check the power supply of your appliances
Sometimes, we wonder why our appliance is not working even if we have
only purchased them a month or two months before. This is one of the
minor problems that we encounter. We fail to make sure that our
appliance is plugged in.
2 – Examine the breaker on that particular appliance
If you have already made sure that the appliance is plugged and power
is being supplied, you can examine the breaker (circuit breaker) and
see if it does not look burned or exhausted to the point of
non-usability.
3 – Check your user’s manual
It is essentially important that you keep the users manual in a safe
area so that you can get back to them for minor troubleshooting tips
for the specific machine that you bought. In every manual,
manufacturers provide simple and detailed instructions on
troubleshooting that you might want to look at first before you go and
call a technician to come to your house. The manual has usually a list
of problems and how you can handle it. It will really save you a lot
of time and cut down your expenses, which means you can have more
money to spend on other priority things.
4 – Unplug your appliance
If you made sure that you have done the exterior examination of the
appliance then it is time to go into the interior side of the
appliance. Take note: Do not attempt to open the machine if you do not
know what you are actually doing. Before you proceed and examine the
inside of the appliance, make sure that you have cut off (switch off)
the power supply by unplugging it so that you can avoid electrocution.
Safety first is what you have to do first.
After everything has been already done and nothing is still working
out, it would be time for you to call a technician.
By: Jorge Ribeiro
Choosing New Home Appliances
Nov 4th
Shopping for new home appliances is rarely a fun experience. Unless you are remodeling a kitchen or have been planning the purchase of new kitchen or laundry appliances for some time, the need for a new refrigerator or washer probably came as something of a shock. Fortunately, if you are shopping for new appliances, understanding the following can make the experience a little less painful, if not enjoyable.
Plan a Budget – There is no way of getting around it. Buying new appliances for your home is going to cost money. While many people opt for used appliances to save some green, there is no guarantee that the appliance will last or what effect it will have on your utility bill. Whether you are replacing a worn range or remodeling your entire kitchen, planning a budget will keep you from going overboard when you make your appliance purchase. Buy Energy Efficient – While many people look only to the sticker price when they purchase new home appliances, the energy efficiency of the unit is as important, if not more important than the initial cost. When shopping for new appliances you should look for Energy Star models if they are available and read the EnergyGuide Label. This will give you valuable information about the yearly cost of the appliance you are considering. Does it Fit – One of the biggest mistakes shoppers make when choosing new kitchen and laundry appliances is picking a model that is either too large or too small for the space. Whether you are buying your new appliances online or from a local dealer it is important to take accurate measurements before making the purchase. This will save you the trouble and the cost of having to ship the appliance back to the store to get another model, or worse, construction costs to make the appliance fit. Features Cost Money – Yes, features are nice. But when you’re shopping on a budget you need to ask yourself if that water and ice dispenser is an honest necessity. Every extra included on your new refrigerator or washer, whether it is a sliding ice bin or 19 program settings, will add on to the final cost of the appliance in question. Refer back to your budget and find an appliance that meets both your needs and the needs of your bank account. Understand the Warranty – One factor that needs to be considered but is often overlooked when shopping for home appliances is the warranty. Before making your purchase as the retailer not only the length of the warranty and what is covered, but also what is not covered. Another thing to consider is if the retailer or manufacturer offer an extended warranty. The extra cost up front could far outweigh the potential future cost if something on the appliance fails after the initial warranty expires.
Understanding not only what is available but also what you can afford is the key to making your appliance shopping less stressful. This is especially true if your shopping because of an unexpected failure. Whatever the case, it is important to remember that everything breaks. Even the most reliable appliances. Stepping back, accessing your needs and separating them from those pesky wants can help you make a more informed decision.
By: Jeff Loquist