8.1 How much power do you use?

8.1- How much power do you use?

Introduction:

Turns out, using electricity is not exactly something that we can get away from in our modern society. In fact, you are using some electric power to do this assignment right now!

In this assignment, you will figure out approximately how much of your monthly electric bill goes to powering some of your appliances. You will complete the same steps/ calculations for 3 separate appliances. Make sure to read the steps carefully!

What you will need before starting this assignment is a copy (or access to) a recent electric bill that you or someone in your household/ family paid.

To help you out on questions that require calculations, the equations you will need are listed in red italic with the question.

What you will turn in:

• Answers to the following questions, typed in this document, submitted to this assignment on Canvas!

Materials needed:

• Your most recent electric bill
• Calculator

Procedure:

Follow these steps carefully, and answer each of the questions in bold.

• Who do you purchase your electricity from? Put another way, who do you (or who does your family) pay the electric bill to?

HINT: This is probably Puget Sound Energy, but it doesn't hurt to check!

• How much ($) was your last electric bill? Please note that your total bill might include natural gas as well! If it does, you will need to find the electricity portion ONLY.

• How many kWh did you use that month? This is usually stated on the bill, but if it is not, you can take the dollar ($) amount of the bill, and divide it by the cost per kWh that PSE charges, $0.094 per kWh to get a rough estimate. See example below for a PSE bill (in the last column):

• How many people are in your household?

• Figure out how many kWh each person uses by dividing the total kWh you use in a month by the number of people in your household.

• In 2021, the average per capita (per person) kWh usage in the United States was about 11,000 kWh per year. Multiply you use by 12 to get your yearly kWh. Is this more or less than the average?

• Next, list three appliances or major items in your house that use electricity:
  • Item 1:

• Item 2:

• Item 3:

• a q uick Google search on these items (you may need to type in particular brand name and model) and find out their kWh power consumption.

NOTE: You will need to find the kilowatt-hour usage of the item- this may require a little digging!

• Item 1:

• Item 2:

• Item 3:

• For each item, how many hours do you use that item each month? Let's assume an average month of 30 days.

HINT: Figure out how many hours the item is "on" during a single day, then multiply that value by 30.

• Item 1:

• Item 2:

• Item 3:

• Figure out how much each item costs per month. To do this, multiply:

• Item 1:

• Item 2:

• Item 3:

• Finally, figure out what percentage of your monthly electricity bill goes to each item. To find this, divide:

• Item 1:

• Item 2:

• Item 3:

• Think about your answers to the last question. Do any of these percentages surprise you? What is the most expensive to run item that you have?

• Take you most "expensive-to-power" item, and look up if the manufacturer makes an "energy-saver" version or model that uses less energy. If you were to upgrade to the model that uses less energy, calculate how much money you would save per month on your power bill.