Mike Barber on mon 21 apr 08
There have been some threads recently on calculating how much it costs you
to fire an electric kiln. Some of you may already know about it, but if
you want to know bad enough to spend about $150, there is a sure fire way:
http://www.theenergydetective.com/index.html
It's called TED (the energy detective). I bought one about a year ago and
love it. You just place some clamps around the circuit you want to monitor
and it will tell you real time how much energy is being used. You program
it to give the amount you pay for power and it also calculates how much it
costs you. I use it to reimburse myself from my business account since I
fire at home.
Granted, it's an expensive way to know how much your kiln costs to fire
but as Ferris Bueller said: "If you have the means, I highly recommend
picking one up". It is really designed to help you save money by
monitoring your whole house so that you can see what is causing your peak
usage. However, you can choose (like I did) to only monitor the circuit
your kiln (or studio, etc) is on.
I have no connection at all to people that make it.
-Mike
Mike Barber on mon 21 apr 08
Terrance,
I haven't had to test it in an audit yet, but I do work for a tax software
company. I spoke with one of our tax analysts about it and they said it
sounded great and that it would be better than what most people provide.
-Mike
Terrance Lazaroff on mon 21 apr 08
Hi Mike;
This sounds great. Have you tested this against tax reporting?. Do the
tax people accept this form of accounting?
Terrance
Visit Terry's Website at http://www.clayart.ca
Michael Wendt on tue 22 apr 08
For people without controllers or older
computer controllers, I have an elegant and
simple solution:
Grainger stock # 1T874 elapsed time meter
is about $35.00
Wire it to one of the elements and mount it
where it can easily be read. Since it would
only run when current is applied to the element,
it would record the actual running time in
hours, and since it is not resettable, a landlord
could count on its honest result.
All the user needs to do is keep a log book
near the meter and note beginning and ending
times. From this, plus the nameplate values of the
kiln and the costs supplied by the utility company,
the calculation becomes:
Amps x Volts = Watts/1000 = Kilowatts
Kilowatts x Hours x Cost per Kilowatt Hour =
total cost of firing.
Regards,
Michael Wendt
Wendt Pottery
2729 Clearwater Ave.
Lewiston, Id 83501
U.S.A.
208-746-3724
wendtpot@lewiston.com
http://www.wendtpottery.com
http://UniquePorcelainDesigns.com
| |
|
