October 25, 2009
Have you ever wondered about the cost of running your home? From your appliances to your heat pump and your air conditioning, the energy spent adds up to dollars on your monthly electric bill.

For example, running a hair dryer costs about 9 cents an hour. A clock costs 14 cents a month to run. A pool or lawn pump costs a little more than 6 cents an hour.

Here's a breakdown of some costs in your home from Progress Energy and ways to trim your daily usage.

Refrigerators

When it comes to refrigerators, models that are larger or include auto-defrost cost significantly more to run than smaller or manual. Here's a breakdown:

• Freezer (16 cubic feet, manual defrost): 30 cents/day

• Freezer (16 cubic feet, auto defrost): 37 cents/day

• Refrigerator/Freezer (18 cubic feet, auto defrost): 56 cents/day

• Refrigerator/Freezer (24 cubic feet, auto defrost): 77 cents/day

Cooking

When you cook, the appliances that you choose to use run the gamut in terms of energy usage. Here's a comparison. Think smaller appliances for small jobs, like toaster oven for toasting and quick baking.

• Oven: 25 cents/hour

• Range-top burner: 9 cents/hour

• Toaster: 9 cents/hour

• Toaster oven: 4 cents/hour

Cooling

Most folks don't realize how cheap it is to run their ceiling fans. Keeping these fans running will also keep your expensive air conditioning circulating, meaning you won't feel the need to run it as often.

• Central air conditioning: $2.80 to $3.76 per day (1,200-1,600 square feet)

• Room air unit: $1.46 per day (1 ton, 12,000 BTU)

• Ceiling or portable fans: half a cent per hour

Cleaning

When it comes to doing the laundry, cold is best. Hot water can double the cost of each load. Dry your clothes just long enough to get the wrinkles out, then line-dry them indoors or out.

Washer:

• hot water: 53 cents/load