If your electricity and gas bills leave you a little bemused, don’t worry, you’re not alone. But it is certainly well worth taking the trouble to understand your bills, because this is the first step to taking control of your energy use and saving yourself money.
It is extremely important to understand the power consumption of your everyday use gadgets.
Here is a summary for your reference.
Electric shower – 4000W
Immersion heater – 3000W
Dishwasher – 3000W
Washing machine – 2500W
Tumble dryer – 2500W
Kettle – 2000W
Deep fryer – 2000W
Toaster 1400W
Iron – 1200W
Oven – 1200W
Microwave – 750W
Vacuum cleaner – 750W
Hairdryer – 500W
Plasma TV – 400W
Fridge-freezer – 300W
Freezer – 300W
Fridge – 100W
Video, DVD or CD – 100W
PC/laptop – 100W
LCD TV – 100
Although a single light doesn’t use much electricity (60-100W for a typical old-fashioned bulb), our homes can have dozens of them, so it adds up to quite a lot – around a fifth of an average home’s electricity bill. As we move to low-energy lightbulbs the amount we spend on lighting will go down, but it is still worth checking that you’re not leaving lights on unnecessarily.
Send your comments to sharad@go-green.ae