The purchase price doesn't tell all
The boring bitPower-draw was calculated by using a trusty watt-meter, attached to the wall, with various appliances' plugs, well, plugged into it. An average reading was calculated after running the appliance for two minutes.
Now, there are a bunch of provisos that go with the numbers on the following page, including the accuracy of the watt-meter, but the upcoming table provides a hard-and-fast comparison of various electrical equipment that gadget-freaks should have.
The table is broken down into power-draw and then the cost of using the appliance for a set amount of hours per week.
The electricity price of 11.4p per kilowatt hour is based on a household using 1,000kWh per quarter and being on a competitive tariff such as British Gas' Websaver. Should the usage be more frugal, say 500kWh per quarter, the average cost goes up to 12.87ppkWh, and raising the electricity consumption to 2,000kWh per quarter - which is really, really heavy domestic consumption - decreases unit cost to 10.69ppkWh. We're taking the 11.4p cost, which includes VAT, into consideration.
Low-usage consumption is defined as running that particular appliance for three hours a day, five days a week. Mid-usage consumption is reckoned to be six hours a day, six days a week, and, finally, high-usage is calculated on the basis of nine hours per day, seven days a week. Of course, some folk leave on computers 24/7 and the final column, however unrealistic, reflects this. You wouldn't run an Xbox 360 24/7, would you, but the fridge and/or freezer would be on for such a period.
A look at my living room, dominated by a Sony 46W4500 LCD TV.
You'll see why the plugs have been taken out when clicking on the next page and seeing just how much certain equipment costs to run: Oy Vey.