Cost of running the dehydrator NON-STOP?

[laurabfig]

We live in an apartment where our utilities are included in our rent. I've been feeling bad cause I am running the dehydrator non-stop lately...literally for days at a time. Anyone have any idea how much this will affect the electricity bill? I feel like it should be minimal since it is not a high-power machine like a space heater or blender or something.

Sorry if this is a dumb question! :)

[Conscious Midwife]

Not a dumb question at all.

Why do you feel bad?

Because of the expense to your property owner?
Because of energy consumption in general?

Get to the root of why you feel bad and then make a reasonable exchange so that things balance.

For instance turn your water heater down, or committ to air drying one load of clothes/ week. Car pool and tun off all unneeded lighting.

Yur health is priceless, feel no guilt in your efforts to be healthy and sustain yourself... just committ to doing more for the planet every opportunity.

Your dehydrator probably doesn't burn many more Kilowats than folks who are on the puter all day with the air and TV running at the same time.

Just my guess:confused:

http://www.myfootprint.org/

click the link above if you wanna measure you impact and make a difference.

Ogh if the guilt is related to your land lord expense, don't worry when your lease is up he/she will adjust your new rent wether its warranted or not:)

[portiz]

Actually I asked this same question a while back. No one answered it to my knowledge and I can't figure it out from home either. I bought my 9-try dehydrator and during the holidays, it ran non-stop for the entire month of december (everyone got a dehydrated bag of goodies).

My light bill went from $150 to $400.

But I think there were other factors. We had bought a puppy right before thanxgiving that had lots of accidents inside the house so our steamer vac was also running constantly. The heat option on that vac draws 12 AMPS. :eek:

Also, we do not have a heat pump, so our electrical bill was probably worse that what it could have been.

However, now I really can't gage it because we have two teenage kids living with us. I KNOW our light bill will double what it was this last month.

[being]

This has been a contentious issue for me.

When I first got a cheap dehydrator last fall, I got really into pizza and crackers and dehydrated veggies and such. My roommates were concerned, to be kind, ;) , that this was sucking up the electricity like crazy.

Due in part, methinks, to the rather loud humming noise it emitted day in and day out. No one complained when I offered to share my eats though :p

I decided to investigate because I was unable to find any definitive answer anywhere. Someone told me that dehydrators use MAYBE 4 cents an hour worth of electricity. However, since our bill shot up to $400 a month right around the time I began using the dehydrator 3 or 4 times a week for 6-12 hour stretches, I wondered how accurate that was.

I went outside and checked the hydro meter... to approximate how fast it was spinning around. Then I turned on my dehydrator and checked the spinnage again. I compared this to having the dryer turned on. And then to the electric baseboard heater.

For me, the meter spun fastest with the baseboard heater. Logical. The second fastest spinnage was sadly my dehydrator. It was sucking up the electricity like my neglected ficus does. And third place went to our energy-efficient dryer.

It may depend on the brand and size of the dehydrator too. I don't know.

[Sharon in Colorado]

Why don't you contact the manufacturer and ask how much energy it uses, then you can figure it out according to your electric bill.

[Veganforlife]

This was taken off of Excalibur's web site:

How much electricity does the Excalibur consume? The average cost of electricity used by the Excalibur is about 4 - 5¢ an hour. Dry a full load of fruits or vegetables for less than a quarter!

[being]

Yes, that's where I read the 4 cents an hour thing! I don't have an Excalibur but if that's the case, I should get one ;)

I suppose it depends on the cost of electricity where you live too tho'...

[portiz]

Yeah..that's what the owner's manual states. However...I pay 13.1 cents per KWh other people in my neighborhood (depending on their providers) can pay as much as 16.5 cents per KWh. So...how many amps does the dehydrator draw; how many watts does it put out?

[Veganforlife]

I would contact that particular company and ask. If it's Excalibur, they will answer you. Other companies should as well.

[GreenPrince]

Last time I used my Excalibur 9 tray (3000-series with timer) for flaxcrackers I measured the total power consumption and price. Sorry, I don't have the protocol here right now.

However, if you tell me the Watts on the sticker (right word?) on the backside of your dehydrator plus how much you pay for every kWh, I'll tell you the MAXIMUM price to run your dehydrator. You never reach this maximum price because in that case you have to turn the thermostate on 160 F (Excalibur).

At 105 F the price is much lower.

I asked the manifacturer of Excalibur for their measurement protocols. I got an elusive and completely adequate reply. I specified my question in a simplified way and got no answer. So I had to buy and disassemble an Excalibur in my lab.

Excalibur is nice looking, but isn't constructed for raw food. The primitive temperature control is inaccurate for raw food. The system is according to my experience of technical temperature regulation too sluggish, the temperature interval too wide around the selected thermostate value. Their reasoning about temperature regulation for raw food is a reconstruction after the event.

Don't worry, Excalibur isn't a bad dehydrator. I still use mine. But this dehydrator has to be redesigned, otherwise it'll not survive in the future raw food market.

I don't know how Alissa's coming dehydrator is constructed, but I advice you to wait for it.:)

Btw, I can measure almost everything of interest for a raw foodist, except chemical analysis.

[luckitri]

This is interesting to me because if I get into dehydrating I would rather use a solar oven as much as possible. Is anyone aware of raw dehydrating done with non-electric appliances? Maybe I should start a new thread?

[Nini]

For what it's worth.....I asked my husband if he has seen a dramatic change in the electric bill since I started dehydrating a year ago. He hasn't noticed a change at all!
:)

[hypnocmt]

Go here!

http://www.gaiam.com/retail/product/17330 (http://www.gaiam.com/retail/product/17330)

[Zella Juice]

OMG :eek: that's awseome...I WANT that.

[eatyourbroccoli]

duuude me too how sweet

[Conscious Midwife]

Last time I used my Excalibur 9 tray (3000-series with timer) for flaxcrackers I measured the total power consumption and price. Sorry, I don't have the protocol here right now.

However, if you tell me the Watts on the sticker (right word?) on the backside of your dehydrator plus how much you pay for every kWh, I'll tell you the MAXIMUM price to run your dehydrator. You never reach this maximum price because in that case you have to turn the thermostate on 160 F (Excalibur).

At 105 F the price is much lower.

I asked the manifacturer of Excalibur for their measurement protocols. I got an elusive and completely adequate reply. I specified my question in a simplified way and got no answer. So I had to buy and disassemble an Excalibur in my lab.

Excalibur is nice looking, but isn't constructed for raw food. The primitive temperature control is inaccurate for raw food. The system is according to my experience of technical temperature regulation too sluggish, the temperature interval too wide around the selected thermostate value. Their reasoning about temperature regulation for raw food is a reconstruction after the event.

Don't worry, Excalibur isn't a bad dehydrator. I still use mine. But this dehydrator has to be redesigned, otherwise it'll not survive in the future raw food market.

I don't know how Alissa's coming dehydrator is constructed, but I advice you to wait for it.:)

Btw, I can measure almost everything of interest for a raw foodist, except chemical analysis.

Where were you last week when i order my dehydrator?!?!?!?

[misslinda]

Go here!

http://www.gaiam.com/retail/product/17330 (http://www.gaiam.com/retail/product/17330)

LMBFAO! Yur killin me..................now this is innovative and solves more than one problem:D

[Indi]

Where were you last week when i order my dehydrator?!?!?!?

Hey, lifeAgift,
The nine tray is fine...
You have been so looking forward to it.....

I just keep a kitchen thermometer inside mine, just to track the temperature for peace of mind.
So far, to my knowledge the temp has not gone over the dial setting.
Maybe under lab conditions variations can be identified.
All this said, if you are still concerned, then dehydrate previously soaked raw chick peas or sunflower seeds, then re sprout them to see if they grow.
If they do, then the machine is not destroying enzymes.

Enjoy your nine tray!!!!!

[RawCutter]

just look on the back and it will tell you the wattage. I have a 4 tray excaliber and its 220 watts.


220 watts on for 1 hour = 220 Wh (Watts per Hour) or .220 kWh (kilowatts per hour)

if you pay 10 cents per kWh or $.1 kWh

.220 kWh x $ .10 per kWh = .022 cents per hour

.022 cents an hour for 24 hours = $.53
.022 cents an hour for 7 days = $ 3.70
.022 cents an hour for 30 days = $ 14.80

[Conscious Midwife]

just look on the back and it will tell you the wattage. I have a 4 tray excaliber and its 220 watts.


220 watts on for 1 hour = 220 Wh (Watts per Hour) or .220 kWh (kilowatts per hour)

if you pay 10 cents per kWh or $.1 kWh

.220 x .1 = .022 cents per hour

I LIKE YOUR MATH:)

[RawCutter]

Go here!

http://www.gaiam.com/retail/product/17330 (http://www.gaiam.com/retail/product/17330)


new idea for a green gym

[KatK]

Hmm...my electricity is .13/KWH and the 9 tray is 400 watts, so that comes out $.05/hr. or about $40/month if you ran it all the time.

[Faithfullyfit]

Okay- My hubby is a mechanical engineer with a heavy energy focus and just calculated.......The monthly 24/7 cost would be $136.00 based on a 12 amp load and 0.13 cents per KW. This would be the same as leaving your 1500watt hair dryer on continually 24/7 :D

Also, I love that human power generator. Some of you know that I am a personal trainer- I can start having my clients work-out and provide power to run my excaliber. What a concept...haha!

EDIT: I had not seen page 2 of the post until after I posted-hmmmmmm?
******There seems to be a huge descrepancy with each of the wattage factors?????********

[GreenPrince]

Oh, I see there is a confusion in many posts.
You can never calculate the real cost/hour from only the amps or wattage of a dehydrator. That's the maximum vattage available, but the real power consumption is lower, because the thermostate shuts of the heater when the desired temperature is attained. Then it goes on again when the temperature sinks.

For a real calculation you have to know the duty-cycle of your dehydrator, and it is variable.
The duty-cycle is the quotient time between heater on-off-on-off etc, and it depends on the temperature value you choose, the type of food you dehydrate and the phase of dehydration.

The only practical way is to measure the power consumption. I have done it for my Excalibur, but I don't have the results here. When I found it... or... next time when I use my dehydrator I will measure it again at 105 F and tell you the power consuption in kWh.

Don't hesitate to ask me if you have any technical questions about your electrical kitchen apparatus and machines.