Electricity consumption comparisons
for home appliances and electronics
Electricity consumption comparisons
for home appliances and electronics
Throughout your home, there are several appliances you and your family use each day that require electricity to run — possibly more than you realize. Actual power consumption varies by appliance, brand and model, but learning which home appliances consume more electricity can help you understand how much money you are spending to use them.
Take a look at the charts below to compare regular household items and find out what consumes more electricity at home. You'll see some unlikely appliances paired with each other to show where your money is going and to shine a light on appliances with high power consumption you may not have considered.
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Device |
Wattage per hour |
|---|---|
| Dishwasher | 330 |
| Desktop computer |
75 |
The dishwasher uses significantly more electricity than a desktop computer. Although the computer uses electricity to power itself and possibly many accessories such as the monitor, modem and router, there are two large energy-draining functions associated with the dishwasher. It needs electricity to make the machine run and to heat the water. To save electricity using the dishwasher, users should run the light cycle and definitely turn off the heated drying option. The heated dryer does not kill bacteria or clean your dishes. It simply stops the dripping, which time can do on its own.
Source: TreeHugger
Device |
Wattage per hour |
|---|---|
| Hair dryer | 710 |
| Ceiling fan | 35 |
One might think the hair dryer and ceiling fan have comparable electricity usage, since both items are small and the hair dryer is only used for short periods of time. But in reality, the hair dryer uses much more electricity. For instance, you would need to run your ceiling fan for more than 20 hours to use the same amount of electricity as your hair dryer uses in only a few minutes. Because the hair dryer has to produce a very high degree of heat, it consumes a great deal of electricity. One way to cut back on hair dryer power consumption is to let your hair air dry, especially in the summer months.
Source: Mother Earth News
Device |
Wattage per hour |
|---|---|
| Iron | 1,100 |
| Microwave oven | 1,500 |
Other small appliances that use a lot of electricity are the iron and the microwave oven. Again, the creation of heat is the culprit. Although the electricity consumption of these two items is close in comparison, the microwave oven consumes more electricity because it uses high-frequency radio waves to heat water molecules.
Source: California Energy Commission
Device |
Wattage per hour |
|---|---|
| Toaster | 1,100 |
| Refrigerator | 225 |
In this scenario, the numbers can be deceiving. The toaster does require more wattage to run than the refrigerator. However, the refrigerator will end up costing you more in the long run because it stays running all day and night to keep your food cold and fresh. Most people don't use their toasters all day long (which would be a fire hazard), so the wattage consumed on a daily basis may be somewhere above a hair dryer but lower than a microwave.
Source: Kompulsa
Device |
Wattage per hour |
|---|---|
| Video game system | 36 |
| Garage door opener | 400 |
Although gamers may spend hours playing their favorite games, the energy used by a video game system is still much less than what a garage door opener requires. Since many garage openers have a remote control, the opener stays on even when it isn’t operating, because it is constantly waiting for the radio signal to tell it to open.
Source: Green Building Advisor
Device |
Wattage per hour |
|---|---|
| Space heater | 1,320 |
| LED TV | 79 |
Since an electric space heater works to provide heat quickly, it consumes much more electricity than a TV. If you use a space heater regularly, you could see a hefty hike in your electricity bill. Space heaters should generally only be used if you want to heat one small area instead of several spaces.
Source: U.S. Department of Energy
Device |
Wattage per hour |
|---|---|
| Clothes dryer | 2,790 |
| Portable spa (hot tub) | 4,350 |
Both of these require a large amount of electricity to run because both produce a lot of heat. However, the hot tub uses much more than a clothes dryer. It is larger than a dryer, and much of the heat escapes from the hot tub while in use, unlike the dryer. As a side note, if choosing between a portable spa or an in-the-ground spa, choose a portable one because they tend to be better insulated and usually include covers to help heat from escaping. The cover is essential not only for the maintenance of your hot tub, but for keeping your electricity costs down.
Source: California Energy Commission
Device |
Wattage per hour |
|---|---|
| Heater | 18,000 |
| AC unit | 3,500 |
Because an electric furnace needs to generate heat, it uses far more electricity than an air conditioning unit as it works to keep your home warm. Depending on how long you allow your electric heater to run during the colder winter months, you could see an increase in your electricity usage, along with a higher electricity bill. Keeping your home’s thermostat set to about 68° during the winter will help to avoid a pricier bill.
Source: Energy Use Calculator
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If you're interested in finding more wattage information for several different types of appliances and electronics, the U.S. Department of Energy has an incredibly useful energy estimator located here.
There are many different factors to consider when considering the energy usage for a U.S. household. For example, a homeowner that lives in an area with temperatures that reach over 100°F in the summer is more likely to use their air conditioning unit than a homeowner who lives in a city with moderate temperatures. The National Association of Home Builders reports that the average household uses 909 kWh per month. However, the average for the state of Texas is 1,174 kWh.
| End use | Billion kWh | Share of total |
| Space cooling | 214 | 15% |
| Space heating | 207 | 14% |
| Water heating | 174 | 12% |
| Lighting | 91 | 6% |
| Refrigerators | 87 | 6% |
| End use | Billion kWh | Share of total |
| Computers and related equipment** | 26 | 2% |
| Furnaces | 25 | 2% |
| Freezers | 20 | 1% |
| Cooking | 16 | 1% |
| Washing Machine | 10 | 1% |
| Dishwashers | 7 | 1% |
**Includes desktop and laptop computers, monitors and networking equipment.
Determining how much electricity your specific appliances are using is now very easy and convenient. Most household items have the estimated energy usage on the back or bottom of the appliance. If you have the make and model of the appliance, you can look up the estimated energy usage on the manufacturer’s website.