J.D.
May 9th, 2008, 12:53 PM
How much wattage does the typical American household use assuming they're running AC in the summer and electrical heat in the winter? The reason I ask is, I'm planning an electrical upgrade later this year (recall my earlier post on my local electican's estimate) and I'm not sure if my typical 200 amp service will be sufficient.
I used Rick Williams' (QuartzHillChristmas.com) Excel spreadsheet to calculate my electrical needs and it shows I need 121 amps total should I turn on all the lights simultaneously. Now I doubt that would happen that often, but assuming the worse, that leaves the rest of the house using approximately 80 amps (9600 watts). That seems kind of low considering the dozens, if not hundreds, of electrical items plugged in and running all the time.
I factored an hourly average from my monthly electrical statement / bill. Can I consider this a relatively safe way to make these decisions?. Here's my figures:
KW AVERAGE
DATE USAGE HRLY WATTAGE
Nov 07 1685 2265
Dec 07 2453 3297
Jan 08 2890 3884
Feb 08 2956 3973
Mar 08 2200 2956
(Based on a 31-Day month)
Even if the average spiked to double the norm, it will still be below the remaining 9600 watts available. Am I looking at this correctly?
Finally, can I safely ask my electrican for eight additional 20 amp circuits from the panel for use with my Christmas lights? My reasoning is, if I only ask for 6, I'd have to max all of them out to cover 120 amps. Just for info, I expect this will be the only year I'll need this much power since I'm moving more and more toward LEDs from now on. I bought these 45,000 minis before doing my homework.
Any help would be appreciated.
J.D.
I used Rick Williams' (QuartzHillChristmas.com) Excel spreadsheet to calculate my electrical needs and it shows I need 121 amps total should I turn on all the lights simultaneously. Now I doubt that would happen that often, but assuming the worse, that leaves the rest of the house using approximately 80 amps (9600 watts). That seems kind of low considering the dozens, if not hundreds, of electrical items plugged in and running all the time.
I factored an hourly average from my monthly electrical statement / bill. Can I consider this a relatively safe way to make these decisions?. Here's my figures:
KW AVERAGE
DATE USAGE HRLY WATTAGE
Nov 07 1685 2265
Dec 07 2453 3297
Jan 08 2890 3884
Feb 08 2956 3973
Mar 08 2200 2956
(Based on a 31-Day month)
Even if the average spiked to double the norm, it will still be below the remaining 9600 watts available. Am I looking at this correctly?
Finally, can I safely ask my electrican for eight additional 20 amp circuits from the panel for use with my Christmas lights? My reasoning is, if I only ask for 6, I'd have to max all of them out to cover 120 amps. Just for info, I expect this will be the only year I'll need this much power since I'm moving more and more toward LEDs from now on. I bought these 45,000 minis before doing my homework.
Any help would be appreciated.
J.D.