<een Wars has started! Now that you are (hopefully) being more conscious about the energy choices that you make, you may be wondering how much power various appliances actually use. Did you know that a hair dryer uses more power than a washing machine? Here’s a list of the watt usage of some common appliances (US Dept of Energy and GE) and some of the values may surprise you.
• Cell phone charger (charging/not) = 3.68/2.24
• Coffee maker = 900–1200
• Clothes washer = 350–500
• Clothes dryer = 1800–5000
• Dishwasher = 1200–2400 (using the drying feature greatly increases energy consumption)
• Fan (portable) = 100
• Hair dryer = 1200–1875
• Heater (portable) = 750–1500
• Clothes iron = 1000–1800
• Microwave oven = 750–1100
• Oven = 2,300
• Laptop = 50
• Printer = 45
• Radio (stereo) = 70–400
• Mini fridge = 90–145
• Televisions (color)
• 19” = 65–110
• 27” = 113
• 36” = 133
• Flat screen = 120
• Toaster = 800–1400
• VCR/DVD = 17–21 / 20–25
• Vacuum cleaner = 1000–1440
• Video game console = 195
— Amber Kim ‘14, on behalf of the Sustainability Assistants