How do toasters use energy

The electricity usage depends on the wattage, number of hours of usage. The utility company charges you for the total number of kilo-watt-hour of energy you have consumed. Kilowatt-hour is the product of power consumption of the load and the number of hours of usage.

A typical toaster consumes 0. That means an hour of usage can cost you 0. A toaster consists of a heating element made up of nichrome wrapped over a mica sheet. When an electric current flows through the wire, it gets heated up and starts radiating infrared rays.

A timer cuts off the current flow to the filament after set time. Skip to content Sitemap Privacy Policy. Cost Per Month:. Hours Used Per Day: Enter how many hours the device is being used on average per day, if the power consumption is lower than 1 hour per day enter as a decimal.

For example: 30 minutes per day is 0. Power Use Watts : Enter the average power consumption of the device in watts. It then generates more heat inside your toast, speeding up the cooking process by utilising conduction and infrared radiation. Eventually, this leads to the interior of your food cooking as well as the exterior. Interestingly enough, infrared light is also a component in other household appliances and devices such as security systems, remote controls, optical fibres, electric heaters, and thermal imaging in cameras with night vision.

However, the process for these devices works in a slightly different way. Heating elements inside the toaster works while only using a minimal amount of energy. The heating elements consist of nichrome wires comprising sheets of mica. A mica is being used in general because it is highly heat-resistant and can withstand the current electricity that runs through the wires. Nichrome wires have chromium and nickel alloy. It can repeatedly withstand high temperatures and is also rust-proof.

When electricity flows through the nichrome wiring and the surrounding plates, it slows down as electrons collide with each other, resulting in its conversion to heat. Other than an electric toaster, you are likely to see them in hair dryers, water heaters and more. Toasters feature a control dial that typically displays five or six different settings. The settings on the control dial will determine the browning or toasting level you wish to achieve.

A level one will only toast your bread a minimal amount. The higher the setting level, the more toasted your bread will be. Once your bread reaches the predetermined level of toastiness, the toaster will pop-up, letting you know your slices of toast are ready to eat. Toasters have a unique and simple way of knowing when slices of bread are ready to eat.

Surprisingly, it does not involve a technical timer. However, this kind of device is not technically a timer because its release mechanism is based on the amount of heat and not based on a specific amount of time. Instead, the basis used is the temperature and how long the heat temperature lasted.

Two different metal strips form a single strip by welding it together.