How Do You Calculate Power Usage On Appliances?
There are a number of ways you can calculate power usage on your home appliances. However, they are all surprisingly complicated. Most appliances do not use their maximum amount of power continuously while in operation, which means that it would be inaccurate to base usage on the rated wattage. You could measure the current, and there are ammeters that can do this without interrupting a circuit, but the hot and neutral wires would need to be physically separate, which usually isn’t the case. The simplest solution, then, is to isolate the appliance and read your electric meter. De-energize all circuits at the breaker, except for the one powering the appliance you want to test. Unplug everything else from that circuit. It would make sense to do this during the daytime. If your water heater is electrically powered, and your appliance uses hot water, keep the water heater circuit energized. Go to your electric meter and take a reading. If you’re in an apartment building, you may need to as
