How much does it cost in electricity to use an iron?

Answer 1

According to this website: http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/home/appliances/small_appl.html#use - a household iron will use 1 kilowatt-hour for each hour of use. That's the equivalent energy used to light four 250 watt light bulbs for 1 hour. In Martin County, Florida (just north of Palm Beach County) FP&L charges app. 11.89 cents per kilowatt-hour. The referenced website uses data from, I believe, 1998. One would hope that our irons have become more energy efficient in the past decade. However, the point of the article was precisely the opposite: while large appliances, e.g., refrigerators, central air conditioning units, etc. - have made dramatic increases in energy efficiency; smaller household appliances have not matched these efficiency gains, and so eat up a larger and larger chunk of our electric bills. The article also fails to mention any specifications for their reference iron. My grandmother used to iron 20-30 hours per week with an iron that resembled a human-sized waffle iron. I use my Hamilton Beach - Proctor Silex Model No. 17520 - rather a lightweight steam iron - less than an hour per year, so I guess I don't worry too much over the 11.89 cents. Your mileage will vary. By the way...should you be using the same brand and model of iron as I have been: it has been recalled. Google the brand and model number for a replacement; or, in the event that your house has already burned down in a blaze of fire this iron has been found to produce, you probably would not have spent so much time reading about its energy usage...