How do I Calculate a Cooking Appliances Load?
- 1
Wattage is listed on the back of large cooking appliances.detail of classical cooking stove image by Tomo Jesenicnik from Fotolia.com
Determine the manufacturer's wattage rating for your large cooking appliances. This should include ranges, refrigerators, ovens and large microwaves or toaster ovens that use a three-pronged plug to draw 240 volts. Do this by locating the stamps or nameplates usually found on the lower rear of the appliance (try looking near the area where the plug comes out of the appliance). - 2). Write down the name of each appliance and its wattage rating, which represents the maximum amount of power the appliance can use.
- 3
Small appliances should be factored in when determining the load of cooking appliances.blender image by Earl Robbins from Fotolia.com
Determine the wattage ratings of your smaller cooking appliances: blenders, juicers, processors, microwaves and mixers. Most small appliances have their wattage ratings labeled on the bottom or back. - 4). Write down the wattage ratings for your small appliances. Next to each appliance, large and small, write down the amount of time, using the decimal system, that you typically use the appliance on a daily basis. For instance, if you use an appliance for 15 minutes a day, that would be a quarter of an hour. A quarter corresponds to .25 in the decimal system. If you used an appliance for an hour and 45 minutes a day, it would be 1.75.
- 5). Use the formula "wattage x hours of usage/1,000 = kilowatt hours" to determine the daily load of each appliance. For example, type into a calculator the wattage for your stove, multiply that by the amount of time you use it daily (in decimals), then divide that number by 1,000 to obtain the amount of kilowatt hours used by the stove daily. This represents the appliance's load.
