According to the Institute for the Diversification and Saving of Energy (IDAE), an average home in Spain consumes about 4.000 kWh per year in electricity. Heating systems together with large appliances are the most involved devices in this energy consumption, being able to reach 60% of the total.
In order to save on electricity bill It is important, therefore, to know which appliances consume the most. Would you dare to guess what they are? Have you thought of the refrigerator as the first option? Then you are not misguided.
Energy consumption of an appliance
The use of electrical appliances conditions your electricity bill. But in what way? To calculate their energy expenditure it is very important to know how much energy they consume when you use them, and when you don't. Knowing which are those that influence the most, you will only have to learn to manage their use so as not to waste energy and reduce the amount of your electricity bill.
Calculate the consumption of household appliances It is a relatively simple operation. You just need to know what the electrical power of the device is and multiply it by the time of use. The first data you can get from your energy label. In addition, there are tools such as the wattmeter, which can also help you calculate it. These devices calculate the power used by each device individually as well as its energy consumption during the period of operation. Don't forget, though, that appliances on standby also have an impact on your electricity bill.
Doing these calculations you will realize that there are several appliances that consume much more energy than others, but they do so for different reasons. They could be divided into two groups, those who consume…
- A lot of energy in a timely manner. They are the ones that consume a lot of power on a timely basis. For example, the oven, the ceramic hob or the washing machine.
- Low energy but for a long or continuous time. These appliances have a low consumption (well below 1.000 watts) but their use time is long. The clearest example is that of refrigerators and freezers that need to be on all day and uninterruptedly.
Appliances that consume the most
What are then the appliances that consume the most? Without a doubt, the appliances whose use is continuous like the fridge and freezer, responsible for up to 22% of the total energy of a house, can you believe it? And after these? Washing machines, dishwashers, electric ovens, computers and televisions.
fridge and freezer
Thanks to different IDAE and Eurostat studies, we can know the average annual consumption of household appliances they consume the most in a Spanish household. In these studies, the refrigerator is presented as the appliance that consumes the most electricity in the home. The only one, on the other hand, that is used 24 hours a day even in second homes.
The refrigerators mean up to 22% of the total electricity cost of homes according to IDAE and up to 31% according to OCU studies. This consumption depends largely on the energy efficiency of the device, a fact that we can find out by looking at its energy label. For a refrigerator with energy class C, the average annual cost is 83,98 euros. A fact that can be cut by improving efficiency and betting on models with adjustable power.
Washing machine
The washing machine is the third appliance on the list with the highest consumption with 255 kWh per year. Do you know that 80% of the energy consumption of this appliance comes from heating the water? For this reason, it is advisable wash clothes at low temperature or with cold water. In addition to betting on efficient models with "eco" programs that reduce that energy consumption.
Others
dishwashers, dryers, electric ovens, and televisions they are also household appliances with a large consumption. And if you have looked at the table of the IDAE and Eurostat study, perhaps something else has caught your attention. Have you noticed to what extent standby affects power consumption? Don't you think the figure is important enough to remedy it?
Now that you know which appliances consume the most, will you take any action at home? Save on the electricity bill It's in your hands.