Cost of Electrical Energy

Electricity 3
 P and V rating of home electricity
● Electricity is sold in energy unit kilowatt-hour (kWh)
● Power is the rate at which an appliance uses energy, measured in watts
Example 3

A toaster operating at 220 V has a power rating of 550 W. What is the

operating current of the toaster?

Solution:

P = VI

I = 550/220 = 2.5 A
 Appliance Power Rating Operating Current,
(operating at 220) P (W) I (A)

light bulb 60 0.27

television set 200 0.91

refrigerator 500 2.27

toaster 1000 4.55

electric kettle 2000 9.09

hair dryer 1500 6.82

PC 100 0.45

table fan 50 0.23

washing machine 700 3.18

Relationship between electrical energy
usage, power, and time
Note:

Electrical Energy = kW stands for kilowatt

Power x Time which is a measure of
power.
E = Pt

kWh stands for kilowatt-

hour which is a measure
of energy.
Example 4

A bulb is rated 220 V, 40 W, Calculate the electrical energy used in 1 minute.

Solution:
E = Pt

E = 40 J/s x 1 min x 60s/1min = 2400 J

Example 5

Calculate the electrical energy consumed by switching on a refrigerator (rated

as 220 V, 500 W) for 12 hours in kWh.

Solution:

E = Pt
= 500 W x 12 h
= 0.5 kW x 12 h
= 6 kWh
 Calculating the cost of electrical energy

Electrical energy used at E (kWh) = P (kW) t (h)

home is measured by joule
meter The cost of electrical
energy used is based on the
1 kWh = 1 kW x 1 h
number of kWh used.
= 1000W x 60 x 60 s

1 kWh is the electrical = 1000 J/s x 3600 s

energy used by a device at a
= 3.6 x 10⁶ J
rate of 1000 watts in one
hour.
Example 6: Cost of Electricity / month
Cost of electrical energy consumption = total domestic units x Tariff rate

Domestic Tariff (per month) Cost per unit

First 100 units 2 Baht

Subsequent 900 units 2.3 Baht

Additional units 2.6 Baht

Joule meter readings for a home are recorded below.

Meter Reading

Before 41,242

After 41,766
Calculate the cost of electrical consumption

Solution:
Unit Rate Amount

100 2 baht 200 baht

424 2.3 baht 975.2 baht

total 1,175.2 baht

Example 7
electrical device number of units power rating (W) total time used per
day/hour (h)

light bulb 4 60 8

ceiling fan 2 80 6

television 1 150 4

refrigerator 1 200 24

air conditioner 1 2000 8

Based on the data given, calculate

a. the total electrical energy consumption in one day, and
b. the cost of electricity in one month (30 days) following the tariff rate
given in example 6.
Solution
a. total electrical energy consumed per day
= (4 x 60/1000 kW x 8h) + (2 x 80/1000 kW x 6h) + (150/1000 kW x 4h) +
(200/1000 kW x 24h) + (2kW x 8h)
= 24.28 kWh

b. total electrical energy consumption in a month

= 24.28 kWh x 30
= 728.4 kWh
Therefore, the cost of electricity in one month
= (100 x 2 baht) + (628.4 x 2.3 baht)
= 200 baht + 1.445.32 baht
= 1,645.32 baht
Classwork in textbook
● Test yourself 5.8
● Read pages 104-106 and answer test yourself 5.9
● Basic recall pages 108-109(if time permits, but if not do it as homework)