How to Calculate
Electric Costs for Pumps and Aerators
Be careful when comparing pumps. Always
compare GPH (gallons per hour) vs. amps draw. To calculate the operating cost of an
electric motor use the following formula:
Amps x volts (115 or 230 volts) = watts x
hours per day of operation ÷ 1000 x cost per kilowatt hour.
For example: Say you are looking at our SCPA10
aerator (at the following link: http://pondsolutions.com/aerators.htm
) and you read that it draws 1 amp of electricity and it uses 115
volts. This aerator (as well as others) should run 24 hours a day
as well as most pumps for backyard ponds, etc. What we need to do to figure out the
total cost is get out our electric bill. Look on the bill where it states the
kilowatt or kwh. You'll find some numbers something like this: 240kwh @ .9704
or .1003. The numbers will be different throughout the country as electric costs
vary. Our electric costs is .1002 and I'll use that for this
example. This .1002 means that it costs me 10 cents (use the first
numbers after the decimal point) per kilowatt hour. Now, let's plug this information
into our equation:
1amp x 115volt = watts x 24 hours per day
÷ 1000 x .10
This calculates to:
1 x 115 = 115 watts. 115 watts x 24 hours = 2760. 2760 ÷ 1000 = 2.76.
2.76 x .10 = .276 or nearly 28 cents per day to run my SCPA10 aerator. With 30 days
in the month I multiply the .28cents per day x 30 days and I get $8.40 which is the
price it will cost me per month (a 30 day month) to run my aerator!
Sometimes you will see a big difference in prices
for comparable pumps throughout our site. This is not only due the individual
features of the pumps but because of how energy efficient they are as well. Take for
example the 2 pumps at the following page: http://pondsolutions.com/3000gph-pumps.htm
You will see the first pump by Beckett that sells for $215.89 and uses
700 watts and the second pump by OASE that sells for $700.00 and draws only 260 amps.
The first pump would cost us $50.40/month to operate while the second pump would
cost us $18.72/month to operate. The first pump would cost us over 2 1/2 times per
month to operate compared to the second pump. Granted, there is also a substantial
difference in price between the two as well as other differences in product quality, but
you should consider the cost of operation of any pumps to make sure you can afford to
operate them.
By the way, you can use the above formula to figure
out what it costs to operate your computer, your TV, electric stove, etc.
Good luck and I hope this information has helped
you!
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