Can I find out how much electricity my equipment uses?

If the truth must be told, the cost of electricity is very high and most of the state-owned utility cannot realy be efficient if they keep on operating a low-tarrif regime. Had it been that people are realy made to pay for the real cost in a country like Nigeria, most of the wastages being experienced in the midst of acute shortage would have been curtailed.

Before we can begin to talk of viable and economical alternatives to conventional supply, we must take a cursory look at our individual electricity consumption, with a view to finding means for reduction before we undertake to provide credible alternatives, this I also believe would also make everyone appreciate and fully utilze the benefits inherent in Electricity Prepaid Metering

So how do you know the amount of electricty you consume. The shortcut is to just look at the label which also carries the name plate! Almost everything you can plug into the wall has such label that says how much electricity it uses. (It may be printed directly into the plastic or metal.) You may have to hunt for the label. It's often located on the bottom or side of the device, or possibly where the power cord enters the unit. If the device is powered with an
AC/DC adapter, the electrical rating is usually listed on the adapter itself.

If the label only gives the number of amps and not the number of watts, you can calculate the watt by multiplying the amps by 240v to get the number of watts. (Amps x Volts = Watts, England, Nigeria and other countries use 240 volts instead of 120v while most U.S. electricity is 120 volts. So a hot plate that uses 6 amps uses 6 x 240 = 1440 watts. If you are in the US or you appliance is powered by a step-down transformer of 240/120v , use 120 in
your calculations.) Note that if a device is powered by a converter (one of those great big plugs), then the converter has converted the electricity from AC to DC, so you need to multiply by the DC voltage, not the AC voltage of 120.

For example, if the device says "INPUT 8V, 0.5A", then that's 8 volts x 0.5 amps = 4.0 watts. You may have noticed that appliances may be labeled 110, 240 or 415 volts. Appliances are actually designed to accept a range of
voltages, between 110-415 volts, and the exact voltage coming out of your electrical socket can vary depending on conditions at the power plant and in your own home. Let's just agree that when we say 240 volts, we understand that it's actually a range from
220-240. And just use 240 for your calculations (except in the US other 120-volt countries).

• Please also note that
  The amount of electricity listed on the label is the maximum amount that the appliance will ever use. For example, a 300-watt refrigerator will only run at 300 watts when the compressor's running (which is when it makes that humming sound, indicating that it's actually chilling the air inside). Most of the time the fridge just sits there, using only 5 watts or so for its electronics. If the amount of work done by a device varies up and down, then so does its energy use. (e.g., a stereo that can be turned up or down, an oven that can be set at various temperatures, a fridge that sometimes runs and sometimes doesn't, a computer that sometimes spins its various drives and sometimes has to use more of its brainpower, etc.) The label on computers is particularly useless; a computer labeled
  at 200 watts probably uses only about 65.
  
• Many consumer items are advertised according to their power output, not input. That means the stereo that says 40 watts on the box might actually require 55 watts to make 40 watts of sound (assuming the volume setting was set to highest), and your 900-watt microwave oven might actually use 1500 watts (on its highest setting). That's because all electrical devices are inefficient - they have to use some extra energy to do what they do.
  
• Knowing how much electricity a device uses at a given moment doesn't tell you how much it's using in a month, because it's probably not running 24/7 (and if it is running 24/7 like a fridge, it's probably not using the maximum amount of electricity, as we discussed earlier).

• Some devices use a small amount of electricity even when they're not on. For example, VCR's and microwaves draw a small amount to power the time display. This amount is often 5 watts or less. Devices which run off transformers also draw a small amount of power. And of course, electricity consumption of a device varies from brand to brand, and condition to condition.
  

You can calculate your electricity consumption using the table below
Calculate your electric cost

Device /Wattage

Refrigerator (1/4 HP) 500

Freezer (1/4 HP) 600

Sump Pump 800

Water Pump (1 HP) 1900

Water Pump (2 HP) 2500

Table Fan 800

Window Air Conditioner 1200

Central Air (10k BTU)* 1500

Central Air (24k BTU)* 3800

Central Air (40k BTU)* 6000

Computer System: CPU, Monitor, Laser Printer 1500

UPS System 2000

CD Player 100

VCR 100

Radio 100

Television 300

Receiver 420

Microwave 800

Blender 300

Coffee Maker 1500

Electric Plate (1 element) 1500

Toaster (2-slice) 1000

Dishwasher (Hot Dry) 1500

Electric Oven 3410

Iron 1200

Washing Machine 1150

Gas Clothes Dryer 700

Electric Clothes Dryer 5400

Hand Drill (1/4 inch) 350

Hand Drill (1/2 inch) 600

Skill Saw (7.25 inch) 1800

Band Saw (14 inch) 1100

Circular Saw (6.5 inch) 800

Sawzall 750

Drills (3/8 inch) 440

Air Compressor (1 HP) 1500

High-Pressure Washer (1 HP) 1200

Submersible Pump (400 gph) 200

Electric Chainsaw (1/2 HP) 900

1/6 HP Motor 300

1/4 HP Motor 400

1/3 HP Motor 475

1/2 HP Motor 650

3/4 HP Motor 900

1 HP Motor 1000

1-1/2 HP Motor 1700

5 HP Motor 5000

Hair Dryer 1200

Electric Water Heater* 4000

Don't rely on these results without understanding the limitations. For example, your computer might use more or less electricity than my computer.
RESOURCES
http://michaelbluejay.com/
http://www.generatorsales.com/