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How Much Electricity do Appliances Use

postman1 — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 10:39:23 +0000

Household appliances use a varied amount of electricity, depending on their efficiency. Location of an appliance can affect electricity usage. For example, a clothes dryer in an open location like a garage, is likely to be somewhat less efficient than one located in a house. Similarly, a water heater with improper insulation is likely to be less efficient and will use more electricity than a well-located and insulated water heater.

Another factor affecting electricity usage of an appliance is the age of the appliance. If your refrigerator is forty years old, chances are your electricity bills are quite high. If you have purchased a refrigerator in the US within the last five years, you are likely to have a far more energy efficient appliance, which represents significant savings on your electricity bill. Today, more and more appliances in the US are now given the Energy Star seal of approval, which guarantees less usage of electricity.

Electricity in the US is measured in kilowatts. A kilowatt costs about .06 US dollars (USD) per hour. Rates can be different depending upon where you live, and on your total electricity usage for the month. Rates vary, and increase with higher energy usage

The average freezer and refrigerator purchased before 1985 uses about 100 kilowatt hours per month. This means you will pay approximately 6 USD per month to run a refrigerator. A refrigerator purchased after the year 2000 only uses only about 37.5 kilowatt hours per month, representing a huge savings on your electricity bills. This is the average measurement for a relatively small fridge. Larger refrigerators will use far more electricity.

Relatively new washing machines use about 360 kilowatt hours per year. Relatively new dryers use approximately 765 kilowatt hours per year. Your electric bill will usually specify exactly how many cents you are charged per kilowatt hour, which can help you determine the cost of running an appliance.

Small appliances or household electrics can often use a surprising number of kilowatt hours. A computer and monitor without sleep mode can use up over 400 kilowatt hours per year. A standing fan may use twice that.

However, large appliances like air conditioners are some of the worst consumers of electricity. Central air conditioning may use as much as 2000 kilowatt hours per year, and sometimes more. Electric furnaces are the most expensive however, using over 6000 kilowatt hours per year.

Most appliances today are now labeled with their average rate of usage, and of course, kilowatt usage can depend upon how much you use an appliance. If you rarely turn on an electric furnace, you’re not likely to use much electricity. Keeping appliances clean, and turning off appliances when not in use, like the TV or computer, can mean a little less money paid to the company supplying your electricity.

With electricity supply sometimes being exceeded by demand in heavily populated areas, it makes sense to choose appliances that will use the least amount of electricity possible

How Much Does it Cost to Make a Penny

postman1 — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 09:26:12 +0000

As of May 2008, it costs 1.26¢ US (or $0.0126 US Dollars(USD)) to make a penny, making the face value of a penny less than its actual value. The cost to make a penny first exceeded the face value of pennies in 2006, briefly rising to almost 2¢ US in 2007 before falling again. The rising cost of making a penny has led to some serious reconsideration of the composition of the penny at the United States Mint, the government agency responsible for printing money and striking new coinage.
The cost of a penny is largely dictated by the materials used to make it. Pennies contain 97.5% zinc, with 2.5% copper to give them their distinctive coppery color. Prices of these metals have risen dramatically in the early 21st century, in response to market demands and increasing regulation of mining, which has made the cost of metals extraction much higher.
The obvious solution to make a penny less expensive is to change the composition of the coin, integrating cheaper metals or perhaps even plastics, as is done with some European currency. However, attempts at changing the composition of the penny have met with some opposition, since some people are concerned that changes in composition could change the look and feel of this iconic American coin. Others have suggested that it may be time to do away with the one cent piece altogether, a decision which would certainly change the way Americans do business.
In addition to the penny, the nickel also has a physical value which is higher than its face value; nickels cost around 7.7¢ US to make. Other currency, such as dimes and quarters, costs much less to make. The face value of a quarter may be 25¢ US, but it only costs 10¢ US to make one. The relative high cost to make a penny or a nickel is balanced out by the lower costs of producing other coins, in some people’s opinions.
Changing commodities prices will continue to drive up the price to make a penny. It is unlikely that the cost of production will ever fall below one cent, and with more pennies being made each year, the Mint may face some tough decisions. Like other government agencies, the Mint is expected to be financially accountable, and the business practice of distributing something with a value less than its manufacturing cost is not very sound. Whether Americans like it or not, this means that the penny and the nickel may be undergoing changes to address this issue.

How Much do Wind Turbines Cost

postman1 — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 19:52:17 +0000

Total costs for installing a commercial-scale wind turbine will vary significantly depending on the cost of financing, when the turbine purchase agreement was executed, construction contracts, the type of machine, the location of the project, and other factors. Cost components for wind projects include wind resource assessment and site analysis expenses; the price and freight of the turbine and tower; construction expenses; permitting and interconnection studies; utility system upgrades, transformers, protection, and metering equipment; insurance; operations, warranty, maintenance, and repair; legal and consultation fees. Others factors that will impact your project economics include your financing costs, the size of your project, and taxes.
The costs for a commercial scale wind turbine in 2007 ranged from $1.2 million to $2.6 million, per MW of nameplate capacity installed.
Most of the commercial-scale turbines installed today are 2 MW in size and cost roughly $3.5 Million installed. Wind turbines have significant economies of scale. Smaller farm or residential scale turbines cost less overall, but are more expensive per kilowatt of energy producing capacity. Wind turbines under 100 kilowatts cost roughly $3,000 to $5,000 per kilowatt of capacity. That means a 10 kilowatt machine (the size needed to power an average home) might cost $35,000-$50,000.

How Much Paint to Buy

admin — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 19:10:31 +0000

How much paint to buy?

Before you begin painting your home’s interior walls, ceiling, woodwork, doors, or windows, you need to estimate the amount of paint you’ll use. Estimates require specific calculations for each surface you want to paint.

To estimate the amount of paint you need in order to cover the walls of a room, add together the length of all the walls and then multiply the number by the height of the room, from floor to ceiling. The number you get is the room’s square footage. Is that math class coming back to you now?

Now you have to determine how much of that square footage is paintable surface area. Because you use a different paint on the doors and windows, subtract those areas from the room total. No sweat, just subtract 20 square feet for each door and 15 square feet for each average-sized window in the room. You end up with a number that is close to the actual wall area you have to cover with paint.

In general, you can expect 1 gallon of paint to cover about 350 square feet. You need slightly more than a gallon if the walls are unpainted drywall, which absorbs more of the paint. You also need to consider whether to paint more than one coat. If you’re painting walls that are unfinished, heavily patched, or dark in color, plan on applying two coats of paint.

When painting a dark color, pros often add a color tint to the white primer. Tints for both latex or alkyd paints are available at most paint stores. For best results, choose a tint shade that’s closest to the top coat color.

Now for the clincher of the math problem. Divide the paintable wall area by 350 (the square-foot coverage in each gallon can) to find the number of gallons of paint you need for the walls. You can round uneven numbers; if the remainder is less than .5, order a couple of quarts of wall paint to go with the gallons; if the remainder is more than .5, order an extra gallon. Of course, buying in bulk is usually more economical, so you may discover that 3 quarts of paint cost as much as a gallon.

Examples

The following examples walk you through the calculations for determining how much paint you need for a 14-x-20-foot room that’s 8 feet tall and has two doors and two windows.

Ceiling paint estimator

Use the following formula to estimate the amount of ceiling paint you need. Double the result if the ceiling requires two coats.

1. Multiply the length of the ceiling times its width to find its area.

14 × 20 = 280 square feet

2. Divide that number by 350 (the estimated square feet covered per gallon) to figure out how many gallons of paint you need.

280 ÷ 350 = .8

For this example, you want to buy 1 gallon of ceiling paint for a single coat.

Wall paint estimator

Use the following formula to estimate the amount of wall paint you need. Double the result if the walls require two coats.

1. Add together the length of each wall.

14 + 20 + 14 + 20 = 68 feet

2. Multiply the sum by the wall height, to find the total wall area.

68 × 8 = 544 square feet

3. Subtract 20 square feet for each door (20 × 2 = 40) and 15 square feet for each window (15 × 2 = 30) to find the actual amount of wall area you’re painting.

544 – 70 = 474 square feet

4. Divide this figure by the paint coverage (350 square feet per gallon), and the result is the number of gallons to purchase.

474 ÷ 350 = 1.4

For this example, you want to buy 1 gallon and 2 quarts of paint for a single coat.

Woodwork paint estimator

Measure the length of the trim in feet, and multiply that number by 1/2 foot (.5), as a rough size for the width of the trim. Include all the trim around doors and windows, at baseboards, along the ceiling, and for any built-in furniture.

As an example, imagine that you have ceiling molding running around a room that is 14 feet wide and 20 feet long.

1. Determine the total length of molding around the room by adding together the length of all the walls that the molding covers.

Round the numbers off to the nearest foot.

14 + 20 + 14 + 20 = 68 feet

2. Multiply the sum by .5 for an estimated width of the molding.

68 × .5 = 34 square feet

3. Divide this number by 350 to estimate the gallons of paint required to cover the molding.

34 ÷ 350 = .09

The result in this example is much less than a quart, but you may paint other woodwork in the room the same color, so buying a full quart may not be terribly wasteful.

Door and window estimator

Use the same figure for estimating door coverage as you use in your wall-area calculations — 20 square feet = one door. Multiply the number of doors by 20, doubling the answer if you plan to paint both sides. Wall paint estimates allow for 15 square feet for each window. Use about half that window area to figure trim and inside sash — the glass isn’t important to the calculation.

For the room in this example:

1. Multiply the number of doors by 20.

2 × 20 = 40 square feet

2. Multiply the number of windows by 7.5.

2 Windows × 7.5 = 15 square feet

3. Add these numbers together.

40 + 15 = 55

4. Divide the result by 350 (the estimated square feet covered per gallon).

54 ÷ 350 = .16

Often, you end up needing to buy only a quart of paint, which goes a long way on doors and window trim.

How Much Do Braces Cost

admin — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 18:55:58 +0000

How much do braces cost?

If you need braces to straighten your teeth or wish to purchase them for a child, you are probably wondering: how much do braces cost? Sadly, there really is no cheap way around it. Depending on the type of braces you decide to go with, you should expect to spend at least a few thousand dollars just for the braces themselves.

An overview of the different types of braces and the average cost will follow, but it is important to note that on top of these figures you can expect to pay for doctor’s appointments, x-rays, and other procedures that go along with having braces put on and maintaining them long term.

Traditional Metal Braces: A more traditional, basic set of braces will run around $5, 000. The metal that these types of braces are made from can be quite uncomfortable and does not give a great physical look in the mouth. For an extra $500 or so you can get ceramic brackets that are colored more to the shade of the teeth. This will make them a little less obvious.

Concealed Braces: This type lingual braces runs behind the teeth on the backside so they are less obvious. While this may be preferable to many people, they are also a lot more expensive. Expect to pay around $9, 000, though they can run much higher than that even. Since the same metal construction is used and the position behind the teeth is closer to the tongue, you still have some discomfort to deal with when getting this type.

Plastic Trays: The more comfortable and easier to wear plastic trays offered from Invisalign are an affordable alternative to the traditional and concealed varieties. Running as low as $3, 500, you could get a real bargain on this type. Not only is the plastic a bit more comfortable in the mouth, but it is less obvious as the metal railroad track design as well. Invisalign cost a lot less, but they may not be appropriate for everyone, so check with your dentist to see if they’re suitable for you.

Note that invisalign does not have one set price. The average price is around $5, 000, but it could be much less or much more than that. If you are interested in these you would have to talk with an orthodontist who can look in your mouth and give a more accurate estimate.

If you are purchasing for a child’s mouth, you may be able to get some help from your insurance company. How much is covered or whether they are covered at all will depend on the terms of your policy, so either pull it out or give the company a call to ask how much do braces cost.

Unfortunately, most insurance companies will not cover this type of orthodontic work for an adult so you would have to cover the entire cost on your own. Yet, many doctors are now offering payment plans which can lighten the load considerably.

So, how much do braces cost? When you see these figures you likely feel shocked and a bit taken back. It is an expensive procedure, but unfortunately there is a real need for it that often goes beyond just vanity. Many people find that the difference in how their teeth look and feel is well worth the money, if not even more.

How Much Alcohol And Tobacco Can You Bring To America Duty Free

postman1 — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:40:27 +0000

How Much Alcohol And Tobacco Can You Bring To America Duty Free?

Travelers may import previously exported tobacco products only in quantities not exceeding the amounts specified in exemptions for which the traveler qualifies. Any quantities of previously exported tobacco products not permitted by an exemption will be seized and destroyed. These items are typically purchased in duty-free stores, on carriers operating internationally, or in foreign stores. These items are usually marked â€œTax Exempt. For Use Outside the United States, or U.S. Tax Exempt For Use Outside the United States.

For example, a returning resident is eligible for the $800 exemption, which includes not more than 200 cigarettes and 100 cigars:
* If the resident declares 400 previously exported cigarettes, the resident would be permitted 200 cigarettes, tax-free under the exemption and the remaining 200 previously exported cigarettes would be confiscated.
* If the resident declares 400 cigarettes, of which 200 are previously exported and 200 not previously exported, the resident would be permitted to import the 200 previously exported cigarettes tax free uunder the exemption and the resident would be charged duty and tax on the remaining 200 foreign-made cigarettes.

The tobacco exemption is available to each adult. Except for information and informational materials, no traveler (whether traveling legally under an Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) license or traveling illegally without an OFAC license) may import Cuban-made goods, including Cuban cigars, unless authorized to do so by a specific license issued by OFAC.

Alcoholic Beverages One liter (33.8 fl. oz.) of alcoholic beverages may be included in your exemption if:
1.You are 21 years old.
2.It is for your own use or as a gift.
3.It does not violate the laws of the state in which you arrive.

Federal regulations allow you to bring back more than one liter of alcoholic beverage for personal use, but, as with extra tobacco, you will have to pay duty and Internal Revenue Service tax.

While Federal regulations do not specify a limit on the amount of alcohol you may bring back for personal use, unusual quantities are liable to raise suspicions that you are importing the alcohol for other purposes, such as for resale. CBP officers are authorized by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to make on-the-spot determinations that an importation is for commercial purposes, and may require you to obtain a permit to import the alcohol before releasing it to you. If you intend to bring back a substantial quantity of alcohol for your personal use, you should contact the port through which you will be re-entering the country, and make prior arrangements for entering the alcohol into the United States.
Also, you should be aware that state laws might limit the amount of alcohol you can bring in without a license. If you arrive in a state that has limitations on the amount of alcohol you may bring in without a license, that state law will be enforced by CBP, even though it may be more restrictive than federal regulations. We recommend that you check with the state government before you go abroad about their limitations on quantities allowed for personal importation and additional state taxes that might apply.

In brief, for both alcohol and tobacco, the quantities discussed in this booklet as being eligible for duty-free treatment may be included in your $800 or $1,600 exemption, just as any other purchase would be. But unlike other kinds of merchandise, amounts beyond those discussed here as being duty-free are taxed, even if you have not exceeded, or even met, your personal exemption. For example, if your exemption is $800 and you bring back three liters of wine and nothing else, two of those liters will be dutiable. Federal law prohibits shipping alcoholic beverages by mail within the United States.

How Much Did Avatar Cost

admin — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:27:15 +0000

How much did Avatar cost?

James Cameron and his crew have repeatedly said that Avatar cost was $230 million, but the NYT guesstimates that after tallying up the marketing campaign and Cameron’s own personal contributions, how much did Avatar cost: around $500 million.

Determining the final cost of this film is a trick in itself. Wildly different reports have been published, ranging from $230 million (The New Yorker – How much did Avatar cost) to nearly $500 million (The New York Times). Avatar’s official budget lies somewhere in between, probably closest to the figure the Los Angeles Times’s John Horn and Claudia Eller cited earlier this month—$280 million for the production, plus marketing costs.

Avatar is a 2009 American science fiction epic film written and directed by James Cameron and starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez and Stephen Lang. The film is set in the year 2154, when humans are mining a precious mineral called unobtanium on the lush moon Pandora in the Alpha Centauri star system. The expansion of the mining colony threatens the continued existence of a local tribe of Na’vi—a sentient humanoid species which is indigenous to Pandora. The film’s title refers to the genetically engineered Na’vi bodies used by several human characters to interact with the natives of Pandora.

Development on Avatar began in 1994, when Cameron wrote an 80-page scriptment for the film. Filming was supposed to take place after the completion of Cameron’s 1997 film Titanic, for a planned release in 1999, but according to Cameron, the necessary technology was not yet available to portray his vision of the film. Work on the language for the film’s extraterrestrial beings began in summer 2005, and Cameron began developing the script and fictional universe in early 2006.

How much did Avatar cost? Avatar was officially budgeted at $237 million. Avatar did cost a lot. Other estimates put the cost between $280 million and $310 million for production, and at $150 million for promotion. The film was released for traditional two-dimensional projection, as well as in 3-D, using the RealD 3D, Dolby 3D, XpanD 3D and IMAX 3D formats. The film was touted as a breakthrough in filmmaking technology, for its development of 3D viewing and stereoscopic filmmaking with cameras that were specially designed for the film’s production.

How Much Is a Stamp

admin — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:34:43 +0000

How much is a stamp?

How Much Does a Stamp Cost? How much is a us postage stamp now? A first class postage stamp currently costs $0.44. Forever stamps are also $0.44, but never expire, and can be used no matter what the current cost of postage. With 6 postage rate hikes in the past 10 years, forever stamps are a smart strategy to save a little money in the future.

US postal rates increased its rates for first class postage and related services (like insurance) on May 11, 2009. First class rates were last increased on Feb. 11, 2008, and the cost for shipping services (like Priority and Express) went up in January 2009. The US Postal Service says its rates will now be “adjusted” each May.

Typical costs:

As of May 11, 2009 the cost to mail a first class letter is 44 cents for up to one ounce, and each additional ounce adds 17 cents. The price to send a typical two ounce wedding invitation is 61 cents. Large envelopes (flats) are 88 cents for up to one ounce (and 17 cents for each additional ounce). Sending a postcard costs 28 cents. The charge for Certified Mail is $2.80; a return receipt is $2.30 for a printed copy and $1.10 for an electronic version; Money Orders are $1.10 up to $500 and $1.50 for $500.01 -$1,000; retail delivery confirmation is 70 cents for Priority Mail and 80 cents for first class parcels or package services; retail signature confirmation is $2.35; and insurance starts at $1.75 for an item valued up to $50.
Sending a letter Express Mail starts at $13.05 and goes up depending on weight and distance mailed; a flat rate (any weight, any distance but sent in a special preprinted US Postal Service envelope) Express letter costs $17.50. Sending a letter or package Priority Mail starts at $4.95 and goes up based on weight and distance; a flat rate Priority envelope or small package costs $4.95, a regular flat rate package is $10.35 and a large flat rate Priority package costs $13.95.
Postcards and letters to Canada are 75 cents for the first ounce, and the price goes up based on weight and distance; for Mexico it starts at 79 cents; and for all other countries the starting price is 98 cents. Priority Mail International starts at $10.95; Express Mail International at $25.95; and Global Express at $31.95.
Details on the May 11, 2009 postal prices are available at the US Postal Service website.

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How Much Does the President Make

admin — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 16:06:20 +0000

How much does the president make?

Traditionally, the President is the highest-paid public employee. President Obama currently earns $400,000 per year, along with a $150,000 expense account, a $100,000 nontaxable travel account and $19,000 for entertainment. The most recent raise in salary was approved by Congress and President Bill Clinton in 1999 and went into effect in 2001; prior to the change, the President earned $200,000, plus expense accounts.

As mentioned before, the President currently makes $400,000 a year in salary. This became the new level in 2001 — prior to that, the President had made $200,000 a year since 1969. In addition to his salary, a President also receives an expense account (currently $50,000); a non-taxable travel account (currently $100,000), and an entertainment account (currently $19,000). So the total package is worth $569,000 per year. On top of all of that, the President gets full and free access to the White House for living quarters and all of the White House employees and services, including White House doctors, barbers, cooks, housekeeping, security etc. The President also gets use of Air Force One, Army One, Marine One, Navy One and Coast Guard One as well as Presidential limousines when on business.

Finally, after a President leaves office they receive a pension which is set as the same salary as the current administration’s Cabinet secretaries. Currently, this means all living ex-Presidents are receiving $191,300 per year as a pension. Additionally, ex-Presidents receive travel accounts and free mailing privileges.

How Much Gold Is In The Entire World

postman1 — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 13:31:39 +0000

How Much Gold Is In The Entire World?

No one knows exactly how much gold exists in the entire world because of private ownership, but there are some pretty good guesses as to how much there is. Gold has been around since ancient times, giving it an indefinite lifespan as well as an indefinite measure. Plus, if you consider all of the gold that could exist out in the world that has not yet been mined, we really may never know how much gold is in the entire world.

According to the encyclopedia and other resources, there are a reported 50 million troy ounces of gold produced each year worldwide. If you add that up, that turns out to be a tremendous amount of gold, considering that it dates back so far in history. With modern mining methods it is likely we are producing a peak amount of gold during this time in history.

For many years, the production of gold was not recorded. Especially in ancient civilizations, finding out an exact measurement of how much gold was produced and used can be a very complicated process, if not impossible. Even if we assume that the amount of gold produced was around 50 million ounces per year for the past 200 years, there is no way to judge the accuracy of that assumption for anything past 200 years ago. However, if you use that estimation, that makes more than 10 billion ounces of gold that have been produced over the past two centuries.

If you took the amount of gold produced annually, and attempted to put it into an actual physical space, it would turn out to be a cube that is about 14 feet on each side. This is based on the gravity of gold being 19.3, which means there are 19.3 kilograms of gold per liter. Given that there are 32.15 ounces in a kilogram, you multiply that by the number of kilograms per liter, which gives you the estimate of a gold cube measuring 2,744 cubic feet produced each year in the world. This cube weighs in at more than 3 million pounds, and is worth upwards of $40 billion, depending on the specific price of gold in the current markets, which fluctuates on a fairly regular basis.

And if you took all 10 billion ounces of gold mined in the world in the last 200 years and brought it all together it would fill a cube that measured 82 feet on all its sides. This would make a cube of gold about one third the size of the Washington Monument.

Even though you can make all of these estimations and assumptions, it still is very hard to determine exactly how much gold exists in the entire world. Without knowing how much has been produced in ancient history, or how much each country holds, there simply may never be an exact estimate of how much gold is in the entire world. However, using documentation from today’s gold production and the estimation of how much it was used in past years, we can get a pretty good idea that there are mass quantities of gold for every kind of use imaginable.

Yes, there is a lot of gold in the world, but due to high demand in industry, jewelry making, coinage and the collectible nature of this precious metal, it will always be a good investment vehicle.