CostCandid

The first time I seriously looked at an electric vehicle, the purchase price wasn't the only number I wanted to know. I wanted to know what would happen after I parked it in my garage. How much would charging an EV at home actually add to my electric bill every month? That's a surprisingly easy question to answer once you know three things: how many miles you drive, how efficient the vehicle is, and what your utility charges per kilowatt-hour. But there's another cost that gets mixed into the conversation: the charger itself. So let's separate the two. First, we'll calculate what it costs to put electricity into the car. Then we'll look at the cost of setting up home charging. EV Home Charging Cost: Quick Answer A useful starting formula is: Monthly EV Charging Cost Miles Driven ÷ Vehicle Efficiency × Electricity Rate For example, suppose I drive 1,000 miles per month and my EV averages 3.5 miles per kWh. The vehicle would need roughly...

A heat pump can be extremely efficient. A gas furnace can be less expensive to install. Neither fact tells you which system will cost less over the next 10 years. The answer depends on your heating load, electricity rate, natural gas price, equipment efficiency, installation cost and the systems already in your home. There is also an important difference between the two technologies: A gas furnace provides heat. An air-source heat pump can provide both heating and cooling. That means a homeowner replacing only a failed furnace faces a different financial decision from a homeowner whose furnace and central air conditioner both need replacement. Quick answer: Do not compare a heat pump and gas furnace using installation price alone. Compare: Installed Cost + Heating Energy Cost + Maintenance + Required Companion Equipment over the period you expect to own the system. Heat Pump vs. Gas Furnace 10-Year Cost Calculator This calculator compares the heating-...

A whole-house dehumidifier can cost far more upfront than a portable unit. But purchase price alone does not tell you which option costs less over time. A whole-home system can involve equipment, professional installation, ductwork or duct modifications, drainage, electrical work, maintenance and years of electricity use. Portable dehumidifiers are cheaper to buy, but a large or humid home may require more than one unit. That makes the better financial question: Which option costs less over the number of years you expect to own it? Use the calculator below to compare a whole-house dehumidifier with one or more portable units. Quick Answer A whole-house dehumidifier has a much higher upfront cost than a typical portable dehumidifier because the project can include both equipment and installation. However, the long-term comparison depends on your specific home, how many portable units you would otherwise need, electricity consumption, replacement frequency and maint...

If you leave a dehumidifier running in your basement all day, how much does it actually add to your electric bill? The answer depends on more than the wattage printed on the appliance. A dehumidifier may be powered on 24 hours a day without its compressor running continuously. Once the basement reaches the humidity setting you selected, the humidistat can cycle the dehumidifier on and off. That makes the most useful cost equation: Rated Watts × Power-On Hours × Estimated Duty Cycle × Electricity Rate Use the calculator below to estimate your daily, 30-day, seasonal, annual, 5-year and 10-year basement dehumidifier electricity costs. Quick Answer A basement dehumidifier that is switched on 24/7 does not necessarily consume its full rated wattage for all 24 hours. For example, a 500-watt unit powered on for 24 hours with an estimated 60% active duty cycle would have about 14.4 equivalent full-power hours per day. At $0.18 per kWh, that simplified example works ou...