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How Much Power Do I Use?
The most common enquiries Kestrel has received this month are: what is my annual energy requirement? And which turbine is best suited to my needs? The FAQ’s on this site do not touch on these issues but do not go as in depth as this article. First, your power requirements will be clarified, with a list of product power ratings included. Then your requirement will be matched to a Kestrel turbine, by its annual yield potential. Every appliance in your home or business draws its own level of particular energy. The level of energy needed to run that particular appliance is measured by the appliance’s power rating, in watts or kilowatts, and the amount of time that the appliance is on. The combination of power that is needed and the length of time that it is needed results in an energy usage, in watt-hours or kilowatt-hours. For example, a cellular telephone charger has a power rating of 10 watts. If you charge your phone for 1 hour, that charger has used 10 watt-hours. Because you purchase kilowatt-hour units of electricity from the national grid, the power ratings below have been given in kilowatts instead of watts. The average unit of electricity (1 kilowatt-hour) bought in South Africa costs around 44.4 SA cents, whilst in the United States the average price per unit of electricity (1 kilowatt-hour) was 8.82 US¢ in 2006. In 2006 South Africa was paying an average of 4.05 US¢ per unit. Entertainment and Technology
Kitchen
Cleaning
Electrical Appliance Kilowatts Vacuum cleaner 1.800 Sewing machine 0.070 Dishwashing machine 2.700 Washing machine - hot wash 1.000 Washing machine - cold wash 0.500 Tumble dryer 3.000 Iron 0.750 Heating
Other
*These power ratings are for the average appliance and subject to change. In order to calculate your energy requirement, make a list of the products in your home or business. Next to each appliance record the power rating and the amount of hours the appliance is used for in one day. By multiplying the power rating and the number of hours, you will have the number of units of electricity that appliance uses in one day. Add all the appliances energy requirements for a total energy requirement per day. For those that are comfortable with the Microsoft Excel Workbook, it is an excellent tool to use when estimating your power requirement (click here to download). Note that, your television draws the same amount of energy “on” as it does on “standby”, the television will only stop drawing electricity when the power button is “off”. Also a cellular phone charger draws energy continuously whenever it is plugged into a plug point, to stop this unplug the charger when it is not in use. The next step is to find out the annual average wind speed in your area. Using the Annual Energy yield graphs on the product pages, you can work out how much energy a particular small wind turbine will yield. When the turbine’s energy yield is greater than your consumption per year that is the right small turbine for you. If you require a small wind turbine for back up power only, do the same requirement calculation but only use the number of hours that the black out will continue for (usually 2 hours). If you are still unsure please post an enquiry form to Kestrel or contact us for assistance. Kestrel will also assist you with your system design (for example). Click here for the e150 (600W) details or click here for the e150 Energy Graph Click here for the e220 (800W) details or click here for the e220 Energy Graph Click here for the e300i (1000W) details or click here for the e300i Energy Graph Click here for the e380i (3000W) details or click here for the e380i Energy Graph The energy efficiency of your home plays an important role in your alternative energy planning. To calculate increasing your efficiency - try this link. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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