Any electricians on the board?

[turbobrian]

I am trying to figure out how much money my sump/water pump is costing me. I rent a house and this pump turns on 15 times a day for 5-8 seconds. We rent the basement level and because we are below the water level the pump gets rid of all the water from the toilets, sinks, washer, dish washer etc. I think it is adding at least $30 to my bill every month. The landlord does not think so. To compare a different house which I know is hard to do but...a house I own in another state that is a 2 family. I pay the electricity for both units and the bill was $73 (471 kwh) last month. The place I rent which is only 1 unit of 2 was $175 (1108 kwh). This is why I think something is wrong here.

The pump is 115v at 12 amps max. it is a 4/10 hp which I would guess is 1/2 hp

if I use 115v x 12= 1380 watts

watts x time = energy use

so if this thing draws 1380 watts is this per second? or do you fiurge this out per minute or hour?

I am a little confused.


Modified by turbobrian at 6:16 PM 6/27/2008

[turbobrian]

Thanks in advance

[Tampa G35 Sedan 6MT]

all i know is my bill is over $350.00 so you are very lucky

[awdjdmtalon]

I believe that it is watts per hour usage on the pump.

[zozoka1212]

I am no electrician in any mean.

It is not that simple what you think. The pumps using more electricity at the start then they use continiously running period. Also depending on the lift too(how far up to push the water) and the size of the pipe.

Anyways I built a little fish pond with waterfall at my old place and the pump was running 24/7 for 6 months. I paid maybe $10 extra a month. It was only 1/4 hp pump. I don't think your sump pump puts your bill up that much. It would only run for about 45 minutes a month.

Zozo

[zozoka1212]

I believe that it is watts per hour usage on the pump.

They usually don't put it on due to the variation from many things. See my other post.

zozo

[smockers83]

I believe that it is watts per hour usage on the pump.

Yessum. V*A gives you the maximum watts, or power, that could be used at any point. The pump isn't the reason for your high energy bill. Its something else.

[zozoka1212]

There is an easy way to do it. The horsepower hour = .745xxxx kilowatt hour. So approx it is 3/4 kwh for each horsepower hour.

Zozo

[turbobrian]

So if this pump draws 1380 watts. And it turns on 10 times a day. Would that be 13,800 watts it uses a day so (13,800x30) = 414,000 watts a month? move the decimal 3 places and get 41.4 kilo watts? 14.4 kw x $0.16 = $6.62

[Beancooker]

I would ask the renters above you, what they pay per month on their bill. I know that at my old warehouse, half out lights were on the neighbors circut. So figuring that they were paying for 48 of the 96 HPS lamps that were on for 16-20 hours a day, they weren't pleased at their power bill.

Also, go to your breaker box, and start flipping off breakers. If you see your neighbors **** go out, or their hot water heater stops working... then you know.

[Beancooker]

For that matter, shut off any breaker that doesn't power your lights/stove/heater and pump. If there are breakers that you don't know what they switch on and off, leave them off. If the neighbors start complaining about something not working, then it's time to contact your landlord.

[Sentientbydesign]

So if this pump draws 1380 watts. And it turns on 10 times a day. Would that be 13,800 watts it uses a day so (13,800x30) = 414,000 watts a month? move the decimal 3 places and get 41.4 kilo watts? 14.4 kw x $0.16 = $6.62

The electric company can't calculate the number of electons that they give you because it's a/c lol.

The bill you by the kilowatt hour. Basically if you have a 100 watt light bulb and you run it for 10 hours, you've just used a kilowatt hour.

4/10 hp = 298 watts

So 298 watts* 8 seconds*15= 596 watt mins= 9.93 watt hours*30 days=.298 watt hours.

Someone correct me if I'm applying this wrong, but I'm 90% sure this is accurate.

[telcoman]

I am trying to figure out how much money my sump/water pump is costing me. I rent a house and this pump turns on 15 times a day for 5-8 seconds. We rent the basement level and because we are below the water level the pump gets rid of all the water from the toilets, sinks, washer, dish washer etc. I think it is adding at least $30 to my bill every month. The landlord does not think so. To compare a different house which I know is hard to do but...a house I own in another state that is a 2 family. I pay the electricity for both units and the bill was $73 (471 kwh) last month. The place I rent which is only 1 unit of 2 was $175 (1108 kwh). This is why I think something is wrong here.

The pump is 115v at 12 amps max. it is a 4/10 hp which I would guess is 1/2 hp

if I use 115v x 12= 1380 watts

watts x time = energy use

so if this thing draws 1380 watts is this per second? or do you fiurge this out per minute or hour?

I am a little confused.

Modified by turbobrian at 6:16 PM 6/27/2008

I am not an electrician either but for a total bill of $73 my guesstimate is that sump pump electrical useage is under $10 and perhaps under $5?

My monthly bill runs $200 to $300 depending on A/C use. Your electrical utility might have a formula to assist you in the calulation but INMHO its probably not worth the time or effort.

Telcoman