A part of what we pay on the electricity bill is directly related to the contracted power. It is quite common for many families to have hired more than they really need. That will cause them to end up paying money each month that could be saved. Therefore, in this article we are going to explain what light power you should have depending on how your home is. This will help you see if you can save money each month.
What light power to contract
Keep in mind that a house in which there is only one person is not the same as another in which a family of five members lives. Choosing well what power to hire is going to be key. If you have too low a contracted power, when you turn on a lot of things it could jump out and have to turn something off.
So what light power should you hire? Typically 3.45 to 4.6 kW is recommended. 5.75 kW is also common, but in cases where more power is required due to being a family of several members or having many electrical appliances on at the same time.
The most common powers to contract are the following:
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2.3 kW: it is a very low power, for a house with few electrical appliances and where 1-2 people live.
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3.45 kW: in this case it is also a power for a house of 1-2 people, but where some other appliance is used. It is ideal for a medium-sized house, where they do not put many things at the same time.
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4.6 kW: this power is typical for a family of 3-4 members and a medium-sized house. It allows you to have electrical appliances connected at the same time, unless you use many and also an air conditioning or electric heating.
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5.75 kW: we can say that it is the top of the usual. It is usual for a medium-large size home and when there are more than 4 people living. Also if you need to turn on many appliances at the same time or put on the air or electric heating.
You can contract beyond those 5.75 kW, logically. There are even houses that need more than 10. But we are talking about very large houses or with many people living, where they need to put many things at the same time. It is not common.
How much does each appliance cost?
Beyond this quick summary that we have made, what you should take into account is the consumption of each appliance. Think that a heater, for example, consumes much more than having a laptop connected to electricity. We are talking about many models consuming about 2500 W working at maximum. Therefore, having two heaters at the same time will already cause you to consume about 5 kW.
We are going to give a list of what each appliance usually consumes on average to give you an idea:
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Television: always taking into account an average, it can consume between 200 and 400 W. Some more, others less.
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Washing machine: between 1500 and 2000 W.
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Oven: between 1000 and 2200 W.
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Air conditioning: about 900-2000 W.
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Dishwasher: 1500-2000 W.
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Refrigerator: 250-300 W.
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Ceramic hob: 1000-2000 W.
These are some examples. As you can see, running the oven, dishwasher and an air conditioner at the same time can make you need a lot of power, depending on the model and how you are using it at the time. This does not mean that as soon as you go a little over the power the light will cut off, since it has a margin. The longer you go, the less time you can use it until it turns off.
Do you have contracted a power according to what you really need? Are you spending money that you could save? We hope that with these simple and practical data you can get an approximate idea. Keep in mind that if you have a stable and uninterrupted Wi-Fi, you can always connect smart devices to better control consumption.
