Does it Really Only cost $14 to Operate my TV for a Year?

That's a very efficient fridge, at least compared to mine! I don't have my numbers here, but I'm sure my defrost cycle is over 600W, and the compressor is higher than yours. At least we have the same wattage light bulbs!

That wasn't true for me. My 29" CRT used about 150W, then my 46" Samsung LCD only used 100-120W (IIRC), but then I bought a 32" LCD (store-brand name model don't know the OEM) and it uses 140W, which is actually more than the much larger 46" Samsung. (I adjusted the backlight brightness somewhat to match the typical room setting, so that helped the numbers, but I did that on the CRT too.)

Anyway, I'm pleased that I can watch the big LCD screen and use less electricity than either of my other TVs. One of which is now gathering dust.

Okay, I'll give it a go.

Your water thru the pipe analogy works well for DC current, but household appliances use AC (alternating current). So the water performs work as they go past this little imaginary water wheel inside your electronics, but it doesn't need to go just one way, the water wheel can change directions (A/C) and still get the work done. So the water is going one direction, slows down, goes back the other direction, slows down, goes the first direction again. Measuring the speed of the water (current) will form a sine wave.

Normally you can measure the resistance the water wheel applies to the current (drop in pressure, or voltage) and multiplied by the current this gives the watts.

But if there's a lot of inertia on the water wheel (aka an inductive load), then the change of the water wheel movement lags behind the change in current. So the water on one side of the wheel doesn't change direction quite as quickly as it does on the other. They're out of phase. And this phase difference is the power factor.

(I think I got that right).

 

My fridge has fluro lighting to improve efficency even further. I need to get the gear to measure the consumption, my work library has it to loan out.

 

Close enough

 

Yes, I'm surprised this isn't the norm now for refrigerators in the U.S. Although in defense of the manufacturers, the door is open so briefly that the incandescent bulb heat and associated wattage are very small impacts. Still, it seems like something easy enough to address. In fact, it looks like mine could be converted...and I might just have a couple of 60 watt equivalent CFL's handy in a few minutes if another experiment works.

The bigger impact to me is the defrost cycle. They've probably already optimized this, but at first glance it looks like an opportunity to knock off another 10% or so. Inadequate defrost could produce some large problems and inefficiencies, so they might find it necessary to use a more frequent, more intensive, and therefore robust defrost cycle. I had a fridge that frequently iced its coils solid unless I kept it balanced just right in both compartments. It was a serious PITA.

 

Tested the fridge with a CFL. It had plenty of room on the end and sides, but the base of the n:vision 60W I tried is too broad and too square. It couldn't quite reach the bottom of the socket. It looks like a 60W equivalent Sylvania micro-mini light would work though. They have about 45 degree pitch from the screw thread base, and it looks like this would fit. Price for the 100W versions were $9 for a two-pack, fairly pricey but understandable for a niche bulb with NO competition in these applications. Lowe's site is brain dead about the micro mini's at the moment, although I can see the 100's on there, just listed with an incorrect name.

 

I have installed CF globes in my range hood and use it for soft safety lighting at night when I'm up rather than have the main lights on. The range hood light is 8 watts while the kitchen lights are 1 x 11 watt oyster fitting and 2 x 15 watt reflector down lights over the benches.

I have CFs in my garage door openers as incandescent globes wont last due to vibration.

As a side note, I tried 3 different CF globes, all brand new in my bedroom and all 3 didn't work, I thought there was a problem with the socket or wiring. I was going to call an electrician but then the globe in the bathroom went, I tried one of the 3 previously tried and it didn't work again, tried an incandescent, one of only 2 left in the house and it worked! tried one in the bedroom and no need for an electrician.
All 3 globes that failed out of the box were different! 2 manufacturers and the 2 from the same manufacturer were different designs.

 

I've had similar issues with the 13 w "Globe" brand from Canadian Tire. Including one that actually went POP and partially exploded when I switched the bathroom lights on.

That was exciting. There is a recall here in Canada of those Globe brand CFL's

 

Yeah, my fridge isn't nearly as good. It uses:
185 watts when compressor is running (inrush, or starting watts is about 220). This runs about 50% of the time.
650 watts continuous on the defrost cycle (peaks at 685). No way to adjust how often the defrost cycle runs.
40 watts per lightbulb, 1 in fridge side, 2 in freezer side

It's a side-by-side with water & ice dispensers in the door. It was listed as inefficient by the energy guide rating in the documents that came with it (which came with the house, BTW, I'll do a much better job when we eventually replace it).

So the fridge comes out to about 25% of my total electric bill (gas furnace and A/C is most of the rest). So I don't get too worked up about the electric vampires, nightlights and such, they're just lost in the noise. I do disconnect my TV receiver boxes at night (one on a timer, one on an outlet strip), since they use 14W-20W whether they're turned on or "off". (When "off" they're still decoding signals and updating the channel guides and such, the only difference is to turn off a couple LEDs on the front). The sump pump is a huge load when it runs, but that's very rarely.

 

Thanks, Nerf.

 

I did some rough calcs on the fridge CFL conversion. I assumed the doors are opened about 40 times a day with a 15 sec average and two 60 W bulbs on the whole time. This seemed high until I started adding up how many times a day each of us opens and closes the door.

I expect to use ~13W CFL's for conversion...if they work. I then assumed all of the excess heat would be removed by the refrigeration compressor with a 2.0 coefficient of performance. (I would have used a slightly higher COP but for the associated defrost cycle, which adds ~25% of the total usage.) Net reduction would be ~8.6 kwh/year or a little less than 2% of the Energy Guide rating. Payout is kind of long at $8 for a two pack...too bad the $1.50/bulb types don't fit, it would be a no-brainer.

 

Actually, you mastered power factor in kindergarden, or whenever you learned how to swing successfully. If you kick you legs on the swing randomly, you expend energy but do not go anywhere (PF = 0). When you kick you legs at the exact right phase of the swing peak, you get maximum movement for your effort (PF=1). If you can just make the abstraction that your kick is the voltage and the oscillating swinging is the current, then the sine wave alignment aspect should be understandable.

 

Nice explanation! That explains why I could never be a teacher

 

Except for oil refining, cold weather oil differences, tar sand operations, Canadian politics and .....

 

Touche

 

That's nice. Most of it is from hydro-electric generation I presume.

Here in CA Southern California Edison charges for electricity on a tiered basis, averaging $0.12/kW-hr for Tier 1 up to $0.27/kW-hr for Tier 5, all of this of course in an effort to penalize high electricity consumption. It's one of the reasons, along with financial incentives, I decided to install solar panels on my roof 2 years ago. As a result I stay within the Tier 1 bracket most of the time, except in winter when lighting and the space heat blower consumes a little more than I can generate.

On the OP subject I chose my widescreen LCD (a Sharp 52") because it is more efficient then Plasma. Even so, it is rated at 290W, which is quite a bit more than the 34" CRT Sony Trinitron it replaced. On the plus side, it's standby power consumption is only 0.6W!

So at 290W x 4hrs/night x 365 days x $0.12/kW-hr, that is $51 a year, less than a buck a week!
For me that's reasonable.

 

Correct, around 90%, with the remainder natural gas. About 50% of total power produced is exported.

Remote native communities have Manitoba Hydro supply them with electricity from large diesel generators

Manitoba Hydro - About Us

Electricity Trade History

It's still reasonable to heat a home with electric baseboard heaters, or electric furnaces. The development I live in is around 4 years old, and around 1/3 of all the homes heat with electric furnaces ranging from 12-20 kw

 

You would explain power factor by attaching the student to the power line.

Tom

 

Hey Tom, birds sit on 'em with no problems that I've ever seen!

(They're generally smaller birds though!)

 

IIRC one of the larger plant outages we had was from a squirrel managing to form a dead short on the primary feeder. We had a back up feed just for things like that but the old switch gear failed.

 

Very nice, mate. That's a nice way to visualize it.