How much does it cost to run an electric light bulb (eg 60w) per hour at normal tariff charge?

Question

How much does it cost to run an electric light bulb (eg 60w) per hour at normal tariff charge?

Answer 1

Burning it for 16.5 hours will consume one Kilowatt (approx) you need to find out what your supplier charges for a Kilowatt because different companies have different charges

Answer 2

1000 watts equals one kilowatt of power.  Here's an excerpt from a website:

Energy equals power times time. Power is the work input. For a lighting system, the power is the wattage of the system. A 60 watt incandescent lamp uses 60 watts of power to operate. Since utilities measure usage for an entire building, they use kilowatts or thousands of watts. So a utility would measure the 60 watt lamp as .06 kW. Utilities refer to the monthly kW reading as demand.

Utilities factor in the amount of time power is used, typically in hours. So, energy is the measure of power used, measured in kilowatts per hour, or kWh. For example, if the 60-watt lamp operates for ten hours a day, then it will use 60 watts times ten hours divided by 1000 watts/kW or 0.6 kWh per day. Most utilities charge residential and small commercial customers only for the energy, or kWh, they use in a month. However, for larger commercial and industrial customers, most utilities will base the charges on both the energy and the monthly demand reading.

It pays to be familiar with the specific rate schedules in order to understand energy billing. Utilities base the demand charge on the highest fifteen or thirty minute average demand that occurs during a month. Sometimes a rate schedule is set up to include a " billing demand". The billing demand is the highest of either the current month's demand or a percentage of the highest demand from the previous eleven months. Demand is a very real component of a utility bill and will impact the costs and savings of lighting projects.

Answer 3

Here's a simple answer:

Power companies charge you per kWh.  your light bulb is 60w which is equal to (0.06kW)

let's say you are being charged $10.00 per kWh, then your equation would look like this:

Cost/hr = (price per kWh) x (kW)

Cost/hr = ($10.00) x (0.06)

Cost/hr = $0.60/hr