Because I hate paying my electric bill, I thought I'd do a little research on my fishroom's window a/c unit for the past couple of days. I plugged the 110v cord into a Kill-o-watt device and from time to time checked on the numbers. Our weather has been nearly 100F, and humid. The unit pulls 117w when in fan mode only, and 715w (6.44 amps) when the compressor runs.
I noticed when my garage is closed, the trapped heat makes the a/c use higher wattage. It reported 835-845w, and once I opened the garage door to allow heat to vent out, the wattage came down as well.
The Kill-o-watt also tracks information. It recorded 22.49kwh in 44:02 hours. Looks like the compressor has been cycling on almost 50% of the time (although the circulation fan (117w) is running 24 hours a day. I'm going to keep it tracking for a few more days, and then get an average daily use from the total.
My current electricity rate is .14kwh and if my math is correct with the numbers I have on my scratch pad, the a/c is using 12.24kwh per day. After 7 days worth of power consumption have been collected, I can double check that math. For now, it appears I'm paying $1.71 a day to run the 8000BTU a/c unit during the summer months, or adding $51.39 to my utility bill by keeping the fishroom 75F and the reef 80F.
Btw, yesterday I noticed my central a/c was running non-stop and that the house had risen to 79F even though the thermostat setpoint was 76F. I called my a/c service to ask if they felt it was operating normally and they suggested I check the furnace filter. I buy the Filtrete ones that are pricey but last for 3 months, and it wasn't that old, yet it was completely covered with dust. It looked like dark gray fur; it was so thick. I bought a new one and replaced the old that evening, and today the unit operated as it should with the house staying at 76F. So those of you trying to save a few dollars off your monthly electric bill, check your filter as it will help reduce how long the a/c system has to run.
I can't wait for winter to return. :roll:
I noticed when my garage is closed, the trapped heat makes the a/c use higher wattage. It reported 835-845w, and once I opened the garage door to allow heat to vent out, the wattage came down as well.
The Kill-o-watt also tracks information. It recorded 22.49kwh in 44:02 hours. Looks like the compressor has been cycling on almost 50% of the time (although the circulation fan (117w) is running 24 hours a day. I'm going to keep it tracking for a few more days, and then get an average daily use from the total.
My current electricity rate is .14kwh and if my math is correct with the numbers I have on my scratch pad, the a/c is using 12.24kwh per day. After 7 days worth of power consumption have been collected, I can double check that math. For now, it appears I'm paying $1.71 a day to run the 8000BTU a/c unit during the summer months, or adding $51.39 to my utility bill by keeping the fishroom 75F and the reef 80F.
Btw, yesterday I noticed my central a/c was running non-stop and that the house had risen to 79F even though the thermostat setpoint was 76F. I called my a/c service to ask if they felt it was operating normally and they suggested I check the furnace filter. I buy the Filtrete ones that are pricey but last for 3 months, and it wasn't that old, yet it was completely covered with dust. It looked like dark gray fur; it was so thick. I bought a new one and replaced the old that evening, and today the unit operated as it should with the house staying at 76F. So those of you trying to save a few dollars off your monthly electric bill, check your filter as it will help reduce how long the a/c system has to run.
I can't wait for winter to return. :roll:
