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<a href="http://articlesgoneviral.com/article/How-to-find-out-how-much-energy-you-use-/" target="_blank">Get Paid to Submit Article like "How to find out how much energy you use "</a><br /><br />Perhaps the most obvious way of finding out just how much electrical energy is being used by an appliance is to turn everything else in your house off and take two meter readings exactly one minute or ten minutes apart. This will give you an approximate figure which you can then use to calculate its power demands over longer periods based on your own usage estimates.<br /> <br /> You may not want to do this however, as apart from the inconvenience of it all, you probably do not want to be turning off your fridge or freezer unnecessarily.<br /> <br /> If you are happy with an approximation, then you might just want to take the easy route and work it out from the figures given on the appliance itself, either printed directly onto the body of the device or on a label near the power inlet. If it is a DC device with an external transformer, then these figures will be both on the unit itself and on the body of the transformer.<br /> <br /> Sometimes the label only gives you the current rating of the device in amps, but you can work out the wattage(which is what mains electricity is measured in by the power companies) by multiplying the number of amps by the number of volts that your power supply uses, which in the UK is 240.<br /> <br /> If you are using a DC powered device that requires an external transformer, then you need to multiply the number of amps by the stated DC voltage, rather than the mains voltage, so if it says INPUT 10V, 2A for instance, then the power rating will be ten volts multiplied by two amps, which works out as being twenty watts.<br /> <br /> Usually, appliances are designed to be able to work within a set range of voltages, to compensate for differing electrical supply conditions. So an appliance that is set up to work with a 240 volt supply can actually accept any mains voltage from 220 to 240 Volts.<br /> <br /> You should always use the maximum voltage rating for your country in your calculations, even if your measurements tell you that you are not receiving this, as supply voltages can vary over time and it is always a good idea to err on the side of over-estimating this figure.<br /> <br /> Devices designed for the international market can often work with a huge range of AC voltages ranging from 100v to 240v, and often have a switch to select between them. When calculating power usage, always use the maximum voltage used in the country you are in(240v in the UK) if you want an accurate result. <br>Make sure you get the right <a href="http://www.britishgas.co.uk/products-and-services/energy/electricity.html">electricity supply</a> with British Gas, the UK's cheapest <a href="http://www.britishgas.co.uk/products-and-services/energy/electricity.html">electricity supplier</a> on average.