I bought Ladies' Home Journal for one article -- 20 Ways to Cut Energy Bills.

But I don't get some of them.

"Tip #3 Make holiday meals in a slow-cooker. It costs 2 cents an hour to use a slow-cooker -- 18 cents for an 8-hour roast. An electric oven uses 22 times that much per hour. "

My slow-cooker uses 200 watts. Electricity here costs .065 cents per kwh.

So it would cost me 1.4 cents an hour to use my slow-cooker.

But if the oven used 22 times in an hour what the slow-cooker uses in an hour then the oven must be a hefty 6700 watt machine.

I don't have a big oven, instead I have a microwave/convection oven, so they don't compare; but I doubt if many ovens are 6700 watts. Besides, if both top and bottom elements were going full blast for eight straight hours, there wouldn't be much left of the turkey. The slow-cooker also uses a thermostat.

Besides, you can cook more than one thing in a big oven: roast and veggies, pie, etc.

There are other factors. The oven would be on a 220 volt system, the slow-cooker on a 110. The slow-cooker is less well insulated.

So the whole #3 idea is much fuss about nothing since you can't compare them.

Or am I just missing the whole point?

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Edited with Glee

This message has been edited. Last edited by: DorianGreyed,

Hi,

Consider this :Saving electricity is the need of hour as there is growing demand of energy in the country. It’s first and foremost responsibility of everyone to save on electricity by applying proper appliances, right use of appliances and some other simple tricks. Thus saved energy will not only increase your savings but will help in the progress of the country also.

They say that “Electricity saved is electricity generated”, so if you want to help your country and lower your electricity bills also, apply following tips/methods for appliances to save electricity.

Here are some more Energy Saving Tips



(Commercial link replaced with article)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: MrsS,

Babs,

Reports like this (on energy savings) is averaged out based on many or just several 'known' products.

For instance most of these reports do not account for new appliances, they make the assumption that you are using a 10+ year old (conventional not convection) oven/stove. They might also use non-energy-star appliances in order to up the ante on the numbers. Again it is averaged out, yes you may have the highly energy efficient electric oven, but your neighbor may be using an early 1980's conventional electric oven that sucks power like there is no tomorrow.

slow cookers also come in a wide variety of wattage - and while the newer ones may use less power, again the average takes into account that many folk have an older, more energy burning model.

The price is averaged out, while you may be paying .065 cents a kWt - others may be paying a hella lot more.

In 2008 the price ranged from 6.7¢ in Idaho to 30¢ in Hawaii http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/cost.html I believe Ladies' home journal is an international publication, thus has taken into account the price range on average over a much larger area.

While that one breaks it down by US states, I know that folk on the other side of the river (who get their power mostly via natural gas instead of the dam) are paying 2-3 cents more than we pay - simply because they are in Modesto Irrigation district (supplies power, not PG&E that only supplies gas out here) and we are in Turlock Irrigation District.

Are you missing the point? No - you checked, you sat down and did the math against the appliances and power service you have.

The point was (is?) that in many instances slow cookers cost less to operate than your oven - of course the article may not have clarified for everyone that these figures and numbers are not just pulled out of thin air, and are based on an average including a wide range of power regions and forms of oven and slow cooker.

-Keep your furnace clean
-Clean or replace the filter every 1-2 months
-Choose a front loading washing machine.
-Use plastic window covers to help prevent heat loss.
-Add insulation to basement walls.
-Close your drapes and blinds during the night.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: DorianGreyed,