
When
you use electricity to cook a pot of rice for 1 hour, you use 1000 watt-hours
of electricity! One thousand
watt-hours equals 1 kilowatt-hour, or 1
kWh. Your utility bill usually shows what you are charged for the kilowatt-hours
you use. The average residential rate is 8.3 cents per kWh. A typical
U.S. household consumes about
11,000
kWh per year, costing an average
of $900 annually.

This chart shows
how much energy a typical appliance uses per year and its corresponding
cost based on national averages. For example, a refrigerator uses almost
five times the electricity the average television uses. Visit the U.S.
Department of Energy's Consumer's Guide for instructions on calculating
the electrical use of your appliances.