Electric Bill

[jun_ph26]

hi : )

how can i calculate my electric bill?

let i say, i have 10pcs PC and monitor, psu 220v 400w each.

how much will cost of each pc in my electric bill?

and also the other appliances like, aircon, refrigerator etc...

what is best formula to calculate it?

is there any software or hardware tools for measuring or calculating the electric bill?

thanks : )

[Olle P]

Now there's a difficult task...!

There are so many variables that it's virtually impossible to predict, at least with good precision.

First we have the pricing:
- There's probably a fixed cost for you having access to electricity at all. That cost should be known to you.
- What's your contract for the actual energy used? Fixed price per kWh, floating with the spot market and/or different price on/off peak hours? (I don't expect you to answer, just to think about it.)

Then comes consumption:
- Overall consumption should be easy for you to check by simply reading the meter provided by your electrical company. Do a reading and write the number down together with date of reading. A month later you can read how much you've used that month.
- Consumption of individual appliances is a bit more tricky. The easy solution is to buy a cheap "Kill-A-Watt" meter and attach it to the appliance. Some caution is necessary though: These meters are notorious for showing too high values on low consumers, such as appliances on stand by. They can also have difficulties getting a correct reading on switched transformers (such as computer PSUs). At least they're good enough to provide you with a "no more than..." value.

Then there are some simple predictions:
- If it's hot outside, air conditioning will use more power.
- If it's cold more will go to heating.
- Adding another consumer (read: computer) will cut down on heating but add to air conditioning for keeping the room at constant temperature.

Cheers
Olle

[jun_ph26]

Originally Posted by Olle P

Now there's a difficult task...!

There are so many variables that it's virtually impossible to predict, at least with good precision.

First we have the pricing:
- There's probably a fixed cost for you having access to electricity at all. That cost should be known to you.
- What's your contract for the actual energy used? Fixed price per kWh, floating with the spot market and/or different price on/off peak hours? (I don't expect you to answer, just to think about it.)

Then comes consumption:
- Overall consumption should be easy for you to check by simply reading the meter provided by your electrical company. Do a reading and write the number down together with date of reading. A month later you can read how much you've used that month.
- Consumption of individual appliances is a bit more tricky. The easy solution is to buy a cheap "Kill-A-Watt" meter and attach it to the appliance. Some caution is necessary though: These meters are notorious for showing too high values on low consumers, such as appliances on stand by. They can also have difficulties getting a correct reading on switched transformers (such as computer PSUs). At least they're good enough to provide you with a "no more than..." value.

Then there are some simple predictions:
- If it's hot outside, air conditioning will use more power.
- If it's cold more will go to heating.
- Adding another consumer (read: computer) will cut down on heating but add to air conditioning for keeping the room at constant temperature.

Cheers
Olle

wow let me take deep breath... that was long explanation i expected.

can we just make it simple as possible?

let i say, for my 1pc unit or ref?

how much need to pay for my electric cost per hour?

what is the simple formula?

[Merman]

Originally Posted by jun_ph26

how much need to pay for my electric cost per hour?

Look at your electric bill or call the Public Utility Company that supplies your electricity.

[Olle P]

Originally Posted by jun_ph26

how much need to pay for my electric cost per hour?
what is the simple formula?

The "simple formula":
[average power draw (in kW)] * [price of 1kWh]

Unless you add something that's up and running hard 24/7 it shouldn't make much difference on your total household consumption.

... but if I'm not mistaken: The reason you ask is that you plan to make some computers publicly available at a café, right?
- Then the question is what they're going to be used for, gaming or net-browsing?
I'd say a gaming computer use something like 0.2kW average while gaming, and a less powerful computer use 0.1kW while browsing.

Here in Sweden electricity costs around 10 cents per kWh.

That works out to 2 cents/hour for gaming and 1 cent/hour for browsing.

If you're running air condition at the same time, the cost for increased cooling will add to that calculation.

Cheers
Olle

[Merman]

This is very nice site to help you from explaining everything to a calculator.

http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/cost.html