Heating pads are only attractive if you can afford to use them. That raises a question.
How Much Does It Cost To Run A Heating Pad?
Considering 12 cents per kilowatt-hour, the cost to run a 200-watt heating pad is 2.4 cents per hour and 57.6 cents per 24 hours.
| Rate In Cents | Heating Pad Watt | Cost To Run A Heating Pad | |
| Per Hour | 12 | 200W | 2.4 Cents |
| Per Day | 12 | 200W | 57.6 Cents |
How To Calculate The Cost To Run A Heating Pad?
You don’t have to calculate these figures. Talk to the manufacturer of the heating pad. Send them an email. Ask them to tell you how much you will spend if you run their product for an hour. Once you have this information, you can figure out how much it costs to use the heating pad for a week, month, or even a year.
Naturally, you can’t trust everything the manufacturer says. They may exaggerate their figures because they want to present their heating pad as the most energy-efficient option on the market. Ask a technician to verify their calculations. If you want to calculate the cost yourself, the process involves the following:
1). Find The Wattage of The Heating Pad
Look for the tag. You can also check the manual. Reputable manufacturers publish the specs for their heating pads online for everyone to see. Without the wattage, you cannot calculate the cost.
Some blankets use more energy than others. In other words, even though the rate in your area is low, running the heating pad will cost you more money.
It is worth noting that heating pads are adjustable. You can raise or lower their energy consumption depending on your needs. Some products make these adjustments automatically depending on the ambient temperature.
Others have devices that switch the power off after a specific period because they think you’re warm enough. These changes in power consumption will have a significant impact on your energy usage.
2). Duration
How long will the heating pad run? An hour? A day? You cannot calculate the cost without determining the watt-hours. You get the watt-hours when you multiply the wattage of the heating pad by the number of hours it will run. As such, the duration is a vital component of your calculations.
How do you calculate the cost of running a heating pad for a day? Isn’t it a simple matter of multiplying the wattage by 24 hours and dividing by 1,000 to get the kilowatt-hours? Not necessarily.
No one uses a heating pad for 24 hours. Some people will run these devices for the 6 – 8 hours they spend in bed at night. Others will run their heating blankets for less than an hour per night. Once they accumulate heat beneath the blanket, they don’t need to keep the device on.
They will program the pad to shut off after a while to save energy. As you can see, the cost of running a heating pad per day will vary depending on the amount of usage it actually gets. The consumer that runs their pad for 30 minutes per day will use less power than a person that keeps this device on for the entire night.
3). Kilowatt-Hour
Utility providers use kilowatt-hours to measure your energy usage. Therefore, you should convert the wattage into kilowatt-hours. Various online tools can perform this task with the click of a button. But if you have a traditional calculator, divide the watt-hours by 1,000. This will give you the kilowatt-hours.
4). Rate
What are your utility company’s rates? How much does each kilowatt-hour cost? You determine the cost of running a heating pad by multiplying the kilowatt-hours by the rate.
The cost of running a heating pad might be higher in your area because each kilowatt-hour is more expensive in your region.
Additionally, some utility companies offer discounts during certain hours of the day or night. Therefore, your energy consumption will drop if you use your heating pad for an hour when the rates are low.
Step By Step Method To Calculate Cost:
1). Start by calculating the kilowatts. You get the kilowatts by dividing the watts by 1000. In this case, you would divide 200 by 1000.
2). Once you have the kilowatts, you can acquire the kilowatt hours. These calculations are equally straightforward. Get the kilowatts and multiply them by the hours.
For instance, if you want to use the heating pad for 24 hours, multiply the kilowatts by 24 hours.
3). Finally, take the kilowatt hours and multiply them by the rate. This will give you the cost of usage.
Tips To Save Some Cost While Running A Heating Pad
Heating pads are not heavy-duty devices. They are cheaper than heaters. However, those few cents they use daily can accumulate after a few months. Therefore, you should take every precaution possible to reduce your expenditure, including
1). Run Heating Pad For 30 Minutes A Night
Contrary to what many people think, you don’t have to run your heating pad all night. According to Energy Australia, it is enough to run these devices for 30 minutes a night. The blanket will trap all the warm air you need. You don’t have to keep the heating pad on to maintain your comfort.
You should only run heating pads all night during the coldest days of the year. Otherwise, there’s no point in wasting energy.
2). Buy Heating Blankets With Timers
Many consumers know they don’t have to run their heating pads all night. But they usually fall asleep before they can switch these devices off. If your heating pad has a timer, you can program it to turn off after a while.
Even if it takes more than 30 minutes to get you warm, a timer will deactivate the heating pad after a few hours when you’re fast asleep.
3). Use Heating Pads With Sensors
The best heating pads will allow you to adjust the heat to suit your needs. This is good because you can lower the product’s energy consumption on warmer days when your heating needs are low.
You don’t have to use the pad’s highest and energy-intensive settings when you don’t need them. Use heating pad brands with sensors. They adjust the heat they generate in response to your body heat and the ambient temperature.
This is highly advantageous. The heating pads can lower their energy consumption even when you’re asleep because the ambient temperature is rising. These sensors are even more effective than timers.
A timer will shut the heating pad off once the preset time lapses. But what if the temperatures have plummeted by then? What if you need the pad’s heat but can’t switch it back on because you’re asleep? Sensors eliminate these worries by performing automatic adjustments.
4). Timing Is More Important
Do you typically wait until you enter your bed to activate your heating pad? That is a mistake because cold conditions will force you to run the heating pad at full blast. You are better off running the pad at low heat in advance.
This will save energy. You can switch the pad off once you enter your bed because it has already created a warm and cozy environment beneath the blanket.
You can reduce your energy consumption even further by turning down the thermostat at this point because you don’t need your heating system to stay warm.
5). Insulation
You can’t expect the heating pad to save energy while keeping you warm if your windows are wide open on a cold night. Identify and eliminate any sources of cold air. You should also wear warm clothing.
6). Prioritize Brands With Solid Reputations
High-quality heating pads are efficient. They will use the least amount of energy to keep you warm. Their low-quality counterparts are the opposite. They will use more energy than necessary, regardless of the setting. Some of them don’t even offer adjustment options.
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