We have provided a list of many of
appliances and their typical power ratings (in Watts). You can use
this information to help you estimate to total amount of Watt*Hours
that your alternative energy system needs to supply on an average
day. Power ratings of most appliances are usually listed on the
appliance itself or its manual.
For a final calculation of your
watt*hour usage, we recommend that you look at each appliance to be
powered to find it rated power. We also offer meters (Brand Power
Meter and the Kill A Watt Power Meter) which are specifically
designed to measure how much power an appliance consumes.
When determining how many Watt x Hours
you're appliances will use keep in mind that many of the appliances
that you might use will only be run for an average of a few minutes
per day. For instance a 500W weed eater may be used for 1 hour every
week. That translates to an average of 71Watt*Hours per day (500W /
7 Days).
Also, there are appliances like
refrigerators which although appear to be "on" all day, actually are
running between 12 to 15 hours a day (turning off and on as needed).
Finally, be aware of "ghost loads".
These are devices that people commonly forget to include in their
calculations. These devices typically consume a small amount of
energy (<1W) but are running 24 hours a day. Examples of typical
ghost loads would be AC adapters, clocks, VCRs, TVs, microwaves and
printers. Many of these devices require power to maintain their
clocks running (e.g. VCR, TV and microwave). Although the amount of
energy consumed on an hourly basis is small, the fact that they run
all day can easily add as much as 100W*Hrs per day.
| Appliance
|
Watts
|
| Air Conditioner |
|
|
Room*
|
1000 |
|
Central*
|
2000 - 5000 |
| Blender |
300 |
| Blow Dryer |
1000 - 1500 |
| CB Radio |
5 |
| CD Player |
15 - 30 |
| Ceiling Fan |
10 - 50 |
| Computer |
|
|
Laptop
|
20 - 75 |
|
Desktop PC
|
80 - 200 |
|
Printer
|
100 |
| Coffee Maker |
800 |
| Clock Radio |
1 |
| Dishwasher |
1200 - 1500 |
| Dryer (Clothes) |
|
|
Electric*
|
4000 |
|
Gas Heated
|
300-400 |
| Electric Blanket |
200 |
| Electric Clock |
1 |
| Frying Pan |
1200 |
| Freezer |
|
Conventional 14cf
(15 hrs/day runtime) |
445 |
| Sunfrost 19cf Freezer |
112 |
| Furnace Blower |
300 - 1000 |
| Garage Door Opener |
350 |
| Heater |
|
|
Engine Block*
|
150 - 1000 |
|
Portable*
|
1500 |
|
Waterbed*
|
400 |
|
Stock Tank*
|
100 |
| Hot Plate |
1200 |
| Iron |
1000 |
Lights
Fluorescent/Incandescent Equivalents |
| Incandescent |
Fluorescent (or compact fluorescent
lightbulb) |
| 100W |
30W |
| 75W |
20W |
| 60W |
16W |
| 40W |
11W |
| Microwave |
600 - 1500 |
| Popcorn Popper |
250 |
| Radiotelephone |
|
|
Receive
|
5 |
|
Transmit
|
40 - 150 |
| Refrigerator/Freezer |
|
|
Conventional 20 cubic feet
(15hrs/day runtime typical)
|
540 |
|
Conventional 16cf
(15hrs/day)
|
475 |
|
Sunfrost 16cf DC (7)
|
112 |
|
Sunfrost 12cf DC (7)
|
70 |
|
Conserv 10.5cf (8)
|
60 |
|
Conserv 7.5 cf (8)
|
50 |
| Satellite Dish |
30 |
| Sewing Machine |
100 |
| Shaver |
15 |
| Sink Waste Disposal |
450 |
| Stereo |
10 - 30 |
| Table Fan |
10 - 25 |
| Toaster |
800 - 1500 |
| Tools |
|
|
Weed Eater
|
500 |
|
1/4" drill
|
250 |
|
1/2" drill
|
750 |
|
1" drill
|
1000 |
|
9" disc sander
|
1200 |
|
3" belt sander
|
1000 |
|
12" chain saw
|
1100 |
|
14" band saw
|
1100 |
|
7 1/4" circular saw
|
900 |
|
8 1/4" circular saw
|
1400 |
| Vacuum Cleaner |
|
|
Upright
|
200 - 700 |
|
Hand
|
150 |
| VCR |
40 |
| Waffle Iron |
1200 |
| Washing Machine |
500 |
* These items
should either be powered by non-electric sources or should not be
powered by a PV system because they are considered to be an
inefficient appliance to power by solar or wind electric sources.
