Dehydrator and electricity

[ladypeace82]

Does this machine waste a lot of electricity. I was just reading the receipes in alissa's book and one say's to dehydrate something for 19 hours~!~~!!

[herbalgirl]

Hi there! If you go to the excalibur website, there is a FAQ area that addresses this. Basically, it is no worse than a lightbulb. ;)

[ladypeace82]

gooooooooooood. i thought we were defeating the whole purpose trying to be more earth friendly. :)

[Green Life]

WELL...

YOu can always sun dry the food....

Actually, the sun works better because it's natural air and sun, and the sunlight aids adding vitamins to the food as it dries.

I have made a big sun drying table before up here in the mountains. It's REALLY easy.

[GoingtoRAW]

I have a dehydrator that I have not used yet so I don't have first hand knowledge. But - one of my friends has one and she "warned" me that it uses a lot of electricity. She said it had actually affected her light bill.:(

[Weazelchef]

WELL...

YOu can always sun dry the food....

Actually, the sun works better because it's natural air and sun, and the sunlight aids adding vitamins to the food as it dries.

I have made a big sun drying table before up here in the mountains. It's REALLY easy.

oh you are so lucky! I wish we could use the sun but we have an apartment with no sunlight hitting our balcony.
We are moving to a house in december though.. so i'm gonna do it then for sure!

[ladypeace82]

I have a dehydrator that I have not used yet so I don't have first hand knowledge. But - one of my friends has one and she "warned" me that it uses a lot of electricity. She said it had actually affected her light bill.:(

uh oh:eek: ....................... hmmmmmmmmm

[casperlynn]

Hi -

That was the first question out of my husband's mouth when the dehydrator arrived: "And how much electricity is THAT thing going to use?" Hehehehe. I told him that the Excalibur website indicated that the average is about 4-5 cents an hour. Hmmmm...we'll see.

LOL. :D

[GoingtoRAW]

uh oh:eek: ....................... hmmmmmmmmm

Yeah. I know what you mean!:D

[luckitri]

This topic came up here last year and someone(s) posted links to build your own dehydrators to take advantage of the sun. I am not that handy. I would prefer to take advantage of the free desert sun but the ants are everywhere! The only thing that stops them is extreme heat. So if I were using a sun dehydrator and while at work it got breezy - the ants would be all over it.

[juliebove]

My electric bill has gone down since I got the dehydrator.

[sueko]

My electric bill has gone down since I got the dehydrator.

Mine has gone up!!!

[GoingtoRAW]

Mine has gone up!!!
Yikes, I'm scared.:eek:

[CaliRaw]

I don't know if mine has gone up or down because it's been very hot and I've been using the A/C. The gas bill has gone down though.

[StarFire]

Yep... this was the same concern my dh had... that our electric bill was going to sky rocket... but it hasn't! dh checked it out throughly b4 allowing me to buy one. He did a lot of research and they really are very energy efficient.

his only complaint is the noise. personally I find the gentle hummmm rather soothing (maybe cuz I know there are delicious goodies in there -- lol! ;) :D ) and even though he complains about the noise -- personally I think it's actually helping to sleep better!!! Cuz when the magic box is humming - he usually falls asleep much quicker and starts snoring away.... !! (although he denies it!:D !!)

I am soooo going to get Alissa's dehydrator though when it hits the market!! Cuz it's supposed to be 'whisper quiet!!' I'm excited... I'm saving my pennies!!

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s43/FireStar_830/79.gif

[StarFire]

I would prefer to take advantage of the free desert sun but the ants are everywhere! The only thing that stops them is extreme heat. So if I were using a sun dehydrator and while at work it got breezy - the ants would be all over it.

lukitri... here in hawaii we've got ant everywhere too!!! Many of us will take a cookie sheet and fill it with water and in the very center of it we place a bowl of our pets food... kind've making a moat around the food so the ants won't converge all over it!!! It works great - it's a hassel... but it works!

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s43/FireStar_830/scratchchin.gif
maybe something like that would work for sundrying food? :confused: