OT : electricity usage

[John]

Trying to cut back on electricity usage.
Already replaced all regular light bulbs with flourescent type bulbs.

I use the microwave alot and was thinking about heating and power
usage. Is the microwave a really inefficient way to heat say water?

I tend to use the mw over and over and over to heat one cup of water
for tea.

Would heating water on a stove or even better, one of those thermos
like heaters be more effiicient? Or are mw ovens more efficient than
I think?

How much electricity would a fan use? Like a large box fan?

And has anyone used a radiant heat stove? You know the kind that are
totally flat on top - no coils. I noticed when I went to buy a stove ,
most of the electric ones at Sears were the flatsurface radiant heat
type. Any draw backs? Doesnt heat as well? Surface not that durable?

 

[V W Wall]

Trying to cut back on electricity usage.
Already replaced all regular light bulbs with flourescent type bulbs.

I use the microwave alot and was thinking about heating and power
usage. Is the microwave a really inefficient way to heat say water?

A typical high power microwave oven uses 1700 W input power to produce
1200 W output (about %70 efficient).

I tend to use the mw over and over and over to heat one cup of water
for tea.

Would heating water on a stove or even better, one of those thermos
like heaters be more effiicient? Or are mw ovens more efficient than
I think?

A small immersian type heater would be the most efficient way of
using electricity to heat a small volume of water.

A mw oven has to convert the incomming AC power to high voltage DC
power, and then uses a magnetron to convert that to RF power, which
does the actual heating.

How much electricity would a fan use? Like a large box fan?

About 100 W, depending on its size and speed.

And has anyone used a radiant heat stove? You know the kind that are
totally flat on top - no coils. I noticed when I went to buy a stove ,
most of the electric ones at Sears were the flatsurface radiant heat
type. Any draw backs? Doesnt heat as well? Surface not that durable?

It radiates more heat into the room than do stoves whose elements
contact the utensils directly. Maybe good on a cold day?

Virg Wall

PS: With Microsoft wanting to take over our home appliances, this may
not be as far OT as we might think! ;-)

 

[John McGaw]

Trying to cut back on electricity usage.
Already replaced all regular light bulbs with flourescent type bulbs.

I use the microwave alot and was thinking about heating and power
usage. Is the microwave a really inefficient way to heat say water?

I tend to use the mw over and over and over to heat one cup of water
for tea.

Would heating water on a stove or even better, one of those thermos
like heaters be more effiicient? Or are mw ovens more efficient than
I think?

How much electricity would a fan use? Like a large box fan?

And has anyone used a radiant heat stove? You know the kind that are
totally flat on top - no coils. I noticed when I went to buy a stove ,
most of the electric ones at Sears were the flatsurface radiant heat
type. Any draw backs? Doesnt heat as well? Surface not that durable?

Microwave is fairly inefficient way to transfer energy to a cup of water. A
"British-style" electric kettle is better as in an immersion heater.
Surprisingly one of those built-in hot water dispensers isn't massively
wasteful: mine uses approximately $1.17 per month to provide me with several
cups of hot water for my French press coffee pot every morning and for hot
soup and such for the rest of the day.

Depending on the surface and the utensil used a radiant heat stove may be
efficient but a direct contact element under a very flat pan is probably
moreso. But if you want effiency you probably will never beat a gas burner.

BTW, if you want to know how much energy you are using (and how I know that
my water dispenser uses $1.17 and my dishwasher $2.35) you might be
interested in digital power meters such as the ones made by Brand.
http://www.brandelectronics.com/ I use one of their portable plug-in units.
Does the fact that they sell units with a computer interface make this
posting on-topic? ;-)
--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]

Return address will not work. Please
reply in group or through my website:
http://johnmcgaw.com

 

[philo]

Trying to cut back on electricity usage.
Already replaced all regular light bulbs with flourescent type bulbs.

I use the microwave alot and was thinking about heating and power
usage. Is the microwave a really inefficient way to heat say water?

I tend to use the mw over and over and over to heat one cup of water
for tea.

Would heating water on a stove or even better, one of those thermos
like heaters be more effiicient? Or are mw ovens more efficient than
I think?

How much electricity would a fan use? Like a large box fan?

And has anyone used a radiant heat stove? You know the kind that are
totally flat on top - no coils. I noticed when I went to buy a stove ,
most of the electric ones at Sears were the flatsurface radiant heat
type. Any draw backs? Doesnt heat as well? Surface not that durable?

even though using a large microwave to heat a cup of coffee may
not be the absolute most efficient way to do so...
it;s used for such a short period of time that the power consumption is
slight

if you really want to save some money you should concentrate on how you
heat your home... since heat rises...it's of utmost importance to insulate
you attic

when i did that many years ago it only cost me $90 to do so (though i added
more later) with my very next heating bill, i already got a $90 savings!!!

as i had the time and money i started working on the sides of the house and
windows etc. btw: if you live in Quito , Equador you may ignore what i
just
said <G>

 

[John]

even though using a large microwave to heat a cup of coffee may
not be the absolute most efficient way to do so...
it;s used for such a short period of time that the power consumption is
slight

Yeah thats the thing -- time vs. inefficiency. I was wondering how
much energy is used to bring a cup to a boil or say 3 separate cups
vs. 3 cups using other methods. But then youd have to factor the time
its kept at a warm temp if you use a kettle since you wouldnt drink 3
cups at one time whereas with the microwave you can do one cup anytime
you want.

if you really want to save some money you should concentrate on how you
heat your home... since heat rises...it's of utmost importance to insulate
you attic

The funny thing is where I live many condos dont have heaters ! Yeah
coming even from Los Angeles a relatively warm climate - its funny at
first , because even there --- you would be nuts not to have a heater.
Here , humidity is the mainthing - air conditioning. But because there
was no general requirement to have heating --- in general I think many
of the apartments and condos and even houses - have horrendous energy
efficiency in terms of insulation and leaks.

as i had the time and money i started working on the sides of the house and
windows etc. btw: if you live in Quito , Equador you may ignore what i
just >said <G>

Well for air conditioning its still relevant. I live in a place very
similar probably to Equador.

 

[John]

PS: With Microsoft wanting to take over our home appliances, this may
not be as far OT as we might think! ;-)

Just imagine what viruses/trojans can do when that happens.

Itll be just like those cheesy sci-fi flicks where some A.I.
controlling your environment goes nuts.

 

[John]

Microwave is fairly inefficient way to transfer energy to a cup of water. A
"British-style" electric kettle is better as in an immersion heater.
Surprisingly one of those built-in hot water dispensers isn't massively
wasteful: mine uses approximately $1.17 per month to provide me with several
cups of hot water for my French press coffee pot every morning and for hot
soup and such for the rest of the day.

Depending on the surface and the utensil used a radiant heat stove may be
efficient but a direct contact element under a very flat pan is probably
moreso. But if you want effiency you probably will never beat a gas burner.

BTW, if you want to know how much energy you are using (and how I know that
my water dispenser uses $1.17 and my dishwasher $2.35) you might be
interested in digital power meters such as the ones made by Brand.
http://www.brandelectronics.com/ I use one of their portable plug-in units.
Does the fact that they sell units with a computer interface make this
posting on-topic? ;-)

I should get one of those things. I was expecting a huge drop from
using flourescent lights but the electricity bill is still stubbornly
high. Thought I was singlehandedly preventing global warming - ha !
Im glad I did it but theres obviously other uses which use a lot more
electricity. I think the cost of electricity is the highest or one of
the highest in the state that I live.

 

[MrB]

I am replying only to the stove question. We have used flat surface stove
for about the last 3 years. We like it a lot. It doesn't seem to radiate
heat to the room as long as there is a pot on the hot spot. It heats up very
quickly, is easy to keep clean. Hope this helps.

 

[John]

I am replying only to the stove question. We have used flat surface stove
for about the last 3 years. We like it a lot. It doesn't seem to radiate
heat to the room as long as there is a pot on the hot spot. It heats up very
quickly, is easy to keep clean. Hope this helps.

You know at Sears they seem to be taking over. Almost seems like there
wont be any coils in the next decade. I thought they were some novelty
thing but they seem popular. Some people I know hates them and claims
they dont heat up quickly and suggested the surface was fragile but
all the feedback Ive read on the net, places like Epinions seems to
suggest they are better. I should have bought one, but this one
persons rabid hatred of radiant flat surface stoves swayed me, so
yesterday when I went to buy one I ended up getting a coil stove. The
one thing I was worred about most I guess was the coil stoves seem to
last forever. I was wonderng if the flat surfaces crack or chip or
whatever. Ive never actually used one.

 

[philo]

Well for air conditioning its still relevant. I live in a place very
similar probably to Equador.

yes running A/C units can certainly be as costly as furnaces...(maybe more
so)
so insulating is still quite important...
i imagine that the advice i gave for insulating attics
would now have to pertain to insulating the space beneath the floors
(and around the windows and doors, of course)

 

[John McGaw]

A
snip...

I should get one of those things. I was expecting a huge drop from
using flourescent lights but the electricity bill is still stubbornly
high. Thought I was singlehandedly preventing global warming - ha !
Im glad I did it but theres obviously other uses which use a lot more
electricity. I think the cost of electricity is the highest or one of
the highest in the state that I live.

I understand that in many households the refrigerator is one of the major
power consumers. I haven't gotten to measuring what mine is using because it
is extremely difficult to get to the plug because it is built in to the
cabinetry very tightly after my remodel. I guess I'll have to bite the
bullet, drag it out, and hook the power meter up for a week just to see what
is going on with it. The model of meter I have won't measure my 240V
equipment like the AC compressor or the hot water heater but I guess I can
kludge some sort of a hookup to measure what the furnace portion of the HVAC
is consuming. I'm fortunate in that I live in one of the relatively cheap
power areas in the country although the local utility has been slowly
ratcheting the price up.
--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]

Return address will not work. Please
reply in group or through my website:
http://johnmcgaw.com

 

[kony]

You know at Sears they seem to be taking over. Almost seems like there
wont be any coils in the next decade. I thought they were some novelty
thing but they seem popular. Some people I know hates them and claims
they dont heat up quickly and suggested the surface was fragile but
all the feedback Ive read on the net, places like Epinions seems to
suggest they are better. I should have bought one, but this one
persons rabid hatred of radiant flat surface stoves swayed me, so
yesterday when I went to buy one I ended up getting a coil stove. The
one thing I was worred about most I guess was the coil stoves seem to
last forever. I was wonderng if the flat surfaces crack or chip or
whatever. Ive never actually used one.

The cookware must be perfectly flat to work as well as it would on
conventional coils, and I don't believe they're any more efficient,
just quicker to heat up (which can be hard on cookware) and easier to
clean, though every now and then you may need to polish off metal
markings.

I don't really think they're selling better because they ARE better,
they simply look "hi tech", "fancy", whatever you'd like to call it.
If I'm ever in such a hurry to heat something that it'd make a
difference how fast they heat up, I'd be using the microwave instead.


Dave

 

[Stephen B]

last forever. I was wonderng if the flat surfaces crack or chip or
whatever. Ive never actually used one.

You can crack the glass top stove by letting a pot boil out all of it's contents
and burn. I don't know if they have improved them over the years to prevent
this, but my sister did this to my parent's glass cook top many years ago - at
least 10 or so. Other than that problem, my parents love their stove. The older
ones, at least, do take a bit longer to heat up than the coil models.
-steve