Five steps to take control of your electrical usage
Can I take control of my electrical usage? If you're wondering how to manage and control your electrical usage at home, office, or any other space, this article provides actionable steps to help you achieve just that.
Step 1: Finding the wattage of a device
To know how to measure the electrical usage in house, you must first know the wattage of the appliances you are using. Most devices have a label listing how many watts they use, you can find the wattage label on the device (usually on the bottom or back) or in the owner’s manual.
Step 2: How to calculate watts per month
To calculate your energy consumption, you’ll need to multiply an appliance’s wattage by the number of hours you use it in a day (the watt-hours).
Device Wattage (watts) X Hours Used per Day = Watt-hours (Wh) per day
Example: A 350-watt refrigerator used three hours per day
350 watts X 3 hours = 1,050Wh/Day (1,050Wh per day)
Step 3: Converting watt-hours to kilowatts
Your electricity bill is measured in kWh, not watt-hours. One kilowatt is equal to 1,000 watts. To calculate how many kWh a device uses, divide the watt-hours from the previous step by 1,000.
Device Usage (Wh) / 1,000 (Wh/kWh) = Device Usage in kWh
Example: A refrigerator using 1,050 watt of electricity per day
1,050 / 1,000 = 1.05kWh per day
Step 4: How to find monthly energy usage
Now that we know how many kWh the appliance uses per day, we can estimate that usage over the course of a month. Multiply the daily usage by 30 days to calculate the approximate monthly kWh usage.
Daily Usage (kWh) X 30 (Days) = Approximate Monthly Usage (kWh per Month)
Example: A refrigerator using 1.05 kWh of electricity per day
1.05 kWh X 30 Days = 31.5 kWh per Month
Step 5: Estimating Monthly Cost
Now that we know the kWh the appliance uses in a month, we can estimate the usage of what it cost in a month. To find this, you will use the formula below
Monthly Usage (kWh) X price of the unit brought (₦)/Unit (kWh)
Example: Assuming I bought unit worth ₦10,000 and it gave me 128.4kWh, for a refrigerator that uses 31.5 kWh in a month, the cost for that refrigerator will be
Cost = 31.5kWh X ₦10,000/ 128.4kWh= ₦2,453.27/Month
By following these steps and understanding your energy consumption, you can make informed decisions to control and reduce your electrical usage effectively
