We’ve all done it. Saturday morning rolls around and we break out our laptop and open an empty excel spreadsheet to start filling cell after cell with kWh usage numbers and the corresponding cost. At the end, you’re left with utter confusion and how in the world could you have spent that much on powering your home?

          “I didn’t even run my A/C during the day.”

We hear it all the time, and we want to help clear things up for our customers – your HVAC system is only a single cog in the wheel of your electricity usage. So let’s do some math and find out what other appliances in your home are contributing to your electricity bill!

Refrigerators

Refrigerators are one of the most common household appliances and are used every day to preserve our favorite snacks and ingredients, most refrigerators also come with a built-in freezer box for freezing food. Modern refrigerators are very energy efficient compared to older models from a few decades ago. A fridge will use anywhere from 100 to 400 watts depending on size and larger units will use about 1575 kWh annually or 131 kWh per month.

The energy consumption of a refrigerator using 180 Watts for 24 hours a day @ $0.10 per kWh equates to $13.14 per month on your energy bill.

Dishwashers

Our home’s dishwashers are used more or less depending on the number of dishes. You can already save money by handwashing and air drying, but if you’re more dependent on your dishwasher, here’s how they impact your energy bill. Dishwashers use between 1200 and 2400 watts of power, with an average dishwasher using 1800 watts.

The energy consumption of a dishwasher using 1800 Watts for 1 hour a day @ $0.10 per kWh equals a cost of $5.48 per month. That number drops if you can manage to use it even less!

Space Heaters

Can’t live without your space heater? Yeah, us too. But running it for 8 hours of your day while working in your home office comes with a cost.

Most common convection space heaters will use around 1500 watts with an energy consumption of about 1500 Watts for 8 hours a day @ $0.10 per kWh, you’ll see a cost of about $36.50 per month. That’s more than your dishwasher and refrigerator combined!

So next time you’re wondering where all that electricity usage came from, consider your appliances rather than singling out your HVAC system. Little things like heaters and clothes dryers can be a hog on your electricity usage.

To learn more about calculating electricity appliances in your home, check out this awesome energy calculator