Power consumption question

[chriswkbrd]

I can't figure this out, so I need some help. If something consumes 145 watts, is that per second, or per hour? I'm basically trying to figure out how much power my tank is going to consume.

 

[lilrobb]

Hour,

We'd all be poor if it was second!

 

[chriswkbrd]

LOL, Thanks Robb. That's what I was thinking, but couldn't find an answer online. It was nice to meet you earlier, and thanks again!

 

[jwevans79]

that is the amount of current it uses while on. if somthing uses 100 watts it would take 10 hours to use 1 kw hour.

 

[chriswkbrd]

Yep, that makes since. I just started over thinking it and was second guessing myself.

 

[ichthyoid]

One watt is equal to 1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joule"><span style="color: #002bb8">joule</span></a> (J) of [IMG]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy"><span style="color: #002bb8">energy</span></a> per [IMG]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second"><span style="color: #002bb8">second</span></a>

[IMG]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watt">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watt</a>

That being said, the power company measures your consumption of electricity in kilowatt hours (KWHr's). That's how many thousands of watts you have used for some number of hours each month.

To make this simple, try this

1) take the number of watts a device is rated for,

2) multiply that times the number of hours it operates per day,

3) multiply that by 30 days per month,

4) divide by 1000 (this is the 'Kilo' part),

5) multiply by 0.1 (cost of electricity, it's ~10 cents per KWHr)

Example:

If you have 2 x 250 watt Metal Halides, and they run 10 hours per day, then here is what it costs to operate them each month.

1) 250W x 2 = 500 watts

2) 500W x [B]10 hours per day[/B] = 5000 watt hours

3) 5000 WHr x [B]30 days[/B] = 150,000 WHr per 30 days (month)

4) 150,000WHr/[B]1000[/B] = 150 KWHr per month

5) 150 KWHr x [B]0.1[/B] (10 cents per KWHr) = <u>$15 per month</u>

Hope this helps.

 

[chriswkbrd]

Wow, that's perfect Ichthyoid, thanks