Part 14

Calculate Operating Cost Per Month

Now that you know the number of kilowatt hours an appliance uses, go to your rate schedule and your electric bill to see what the average kwh costs. Find the average cost of 1 kwh by dividing the amount of your bill by the total number of kwh used in a month.

Example: 410 kwh used. $14.35 total monthly bill

Average cost per kwh equals $14.35 divided by 410 kwh-3-1/2 cents per kwh.

Therefore, the cost of operating the coffee maker for a month would be 3-1/2 cents times 7.25 kwh--25.4 or 25 cents. Cost of operating the yard light would have been 94.5 or 95 cents a month.

(a) 6357 (b) 1963 (c) 8996

Correct answers to the meter readings shown on the preceding page.

Adding Low Cost Helpers

You can see, by looking at your rate schedule, that the average cost per kwh gets lower as you use more electricity. To find the cost of operating additional electrical equipment, the cost per kilowatt hour is found from the last "step" in the bill--the lowest cost per kwh of the electricity you're now using. Sometimes power suppliers give special rates for such equipment as electric water heaters.

WHAT TO DO: Find the Cost of Operating Electrical Equipment

Make and fill in the blanks of a chart showing the electrical equipment you have and the operating costs per month.

Make a chart for the home (refer to chart one). Show the probable operating cost of equipment you might add to what you now have.

Demonstrations You Can Give

Show how to read a meter, making one with plywood or cardboard. Dials can be painted on the main board. Arrows can be attached so they will revolve to give different readings.

Show how to find the wattage of various types of equipment.

Show how to figure the cost of the average kwh in a home.

For Further Information

Your leader can get additional material for you or you may want to have someone from your power supplier talk to your club, telling about meters, how they work and how they are regularly checked for accuracy.

Chart One-THE HOME

Column No. 1. 2. 3. 4.

Item Wattage Hours KWH per Cost per Rating Used Month Month per (col. 1x2)/ (Col. 3 x av. Remarks Month 1000 kwh cost)

Electric Iron 1100 30 33 .80 Stove 880 60 52.8 1.21 (Special rate)

LESSON NO. B-8 Credit Points 3

IRONING IS FUN WITH THE MODERN HAND IRON

When you are getting ready to go to school or to a party, it probably gives you a good feeling to put on a clean, freshly-ironed skirt, blouse or dress. But did you ever think about the electric iron that helps so much to give you that well-dressed feeling? When you were younger, you may have had a play iron and pretended to iron your doll's dresses. Now you are old enough to learn about real irons--the different kinds of irons, how the iron heats, the kind of cord needed, the type of outlet necessary, how to use safety rules when you iron, and even how to help with the ironing.

Important Things to Know

There are many different irons, but the two kinds most important for you to know about now are the regular dry iron and the combination steam-and-dry iron.

It isn't weight alone that makes an iron do its job, but the heat of the iron. The heat is given off in the sole plate. The automatic iron has what is called a thermostatic control which holds the temperature of the iron at the heat you want. Some clothes need to be ironed with a very hot iron, while others need only to be pressed lightly with a cool iron. The thermostat keeps the iron at an even temperature after you set it for the heat you want. The thermostat is the heart of the iron.