If you are planning to buy a new electric iron or wondering how much electricity your existing clothes iron is consuming then this article is for you. In this article, we will calculate the power consumption of an electric clothes iron and also look at how much it costs to use one.

Electric clothes iron are normally rated between 500 watts to 2000 watts. A 2000 watt electric iron running for 15 minutes every day will consume around 0.5 kWh of electricity in a day, and 15 kWh of electricity in a month.

This would roughly translate to a monthly electricity cost of Rs 150 in India (Mumbai), ₱ 145 in Philippines,, $ 2.43 in the US, £ 5.40 in the UK,  and C$ 2,34 in Canada.

How To Calculate The Power Consumption Of Electric Clothes Iron:

The power consumption of an electric iron (for that matter any electrical appliance) depends upon two main things,

1. First is the wattage of your electric iron,
2. And second is the electricity tariff in your area.

Before we jump into calculating the power consumption of your electric iron let’s see what these terms are and how you can find out your electric iron’s wattage and the electricity tariff of your locality.

If you already know these terms and just want to use the calculator then please scroll down to see the calculated results or use the calculator.

What Is The Wattage Of An Electric Iron:

Generally, electric clothes irons are rated between 500 watts to 2000 watts.

You can find the wattage of your electric iron by reading the label on it or just look for your electric iron on amazon and you will find its wattage in the description section.

(If you don’t have time to do this, then don’t worry I have put together a table at the end that shows the power consumption of a range of electric irons with different wattages.)

If you don’t know what a watt is then here is a quick explanation,

Watt is the unit of power. It means the rate at which electricity is consumed or produced by a device. For example, a 50-watt TV consumes power at a rate of 50 watts per hour, it does not mean that the TV consumed 50 units of electricity, it means it will consume power at a rate of 50 watts every hour.

So in short, the wattage of an electric iron lies between 500 watts to 2000 watts and you can find it by looking at the label on it. With that out of the way, let’s look at what is electricity tariff.

What is your Electricity Tariff:

In simple words, electricity tariff is the amount your electricity provider charges you for one unit (kWh) of electricity. I live in Mumbai, India here the electricity tariff is Rs 12/kWh.

(What is a Kilowatt hour (kWh) – Kilowatt hours or units of electricity is the energy consumption of a device. For example, a 50-watt table fan running for 50 hours will consume 50 watts x 50 hours = 2500-watt hours = 2.5-kilowatt hours of electricity = 2.5 units of electricity. (1 kWh of electricity = 1 unit of electricity))

To find your electricity tariff, just look into your previous month’s electricity bill and find out your monthly electricity consumption, then just divide your monthly electricity consumption by your total monthly electricity bill, the figure you get is approximately your electricity tariff.

I have put together the following table that shows the electricity tariff of a few countries.

Electricity Tariff Around The World:

You can also check out the following resources to know your electricity tariff:

• https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/electricity_prices/
• https://www.statista.com/statistics/263492/electricity-prices-in-selected-countries/

Calculate Electric Iron Power Consumption:

With these two pieces of information in hand, you are ready to find the power consumption of your electric iron

Let me show you an example,

I have selected a 2000 Watts electric steam iron listed on amazon.

Let’s assume we will use this electric iron for 15 minutes every day for the entire year.

Hence, we will calculate the daily, monthly, and annual power consumption of this 2000 watts clothes iron.

With the knowledge of your electric iron wattage and your electricity tariff, just use this simple formula to calculate power consumption.

Power consumption of an appliance = Wattage of the appliance X operational hours

Cost to run an appliance = Power consumption of the appliance X electricity tariff

(Operational hours is basically the number of hours you are using your electric iron)

Now let’s calculate,

How Much Power Does A Electric Iron Consume:

In our case, wattage is 2000 watts and operational hours are 15 minutes (0.25 hours) in a day, 7.5 hours in a month, and 91.25 hours in a year.

Hence by using the above formula.

• Daily power consumption of a 2000 watts electric iron (15 mins) = 2000 watts X 0.25 hours = 0.5 kWh

• Similarly, the Monthly power consumption of a 2000 watts electric iron (15 mins/day @ 30 days) = 2000 watts X 7.5 hours = 15 kWh

• And the annual power consumption of 2000 watts electric iron (15 mins/day @ 365 days) = 2000 watts X 91.25 hours = 182.5 kWh

Now that we know the power consumption just multiply it by your electricity tariff and you will get how much it will cost you to run your electric iron.

let’s calculate how much it will cost to run this 2000 watts electric iron for 15 minutes every day for an entire month in India, the Philippines, the US, the UK, and Canada.

• In the Philippines, the avg. electricity tariff is around ₱ 9.67 per kWh, hence it will cost around ₱ 145 (15 kWh X ₱ 9.67/kWh) to run this 2000 watts electric iron for 15 minutes every day for an entire month in the Philippines.

• In Mumbai, India, the avg. electricity tariff is around Rs 10 per kWh, hence it will cost around Rs 150 (15 kWh X Rs 10/kWh) to run this 2000 watts electric iron for 15 minutes every day for an entire month in Mumbai, India.

• In the US, the avg. electricity tariff is around 16.20 cents per kWh, hence it will cost around $ 2.43 (15 kWh X 16.20 cents/kWh) to run this 2000 watts electric iron for 15 minutes every day for an entire month in the US.

• In the UK, the avg. electricity tariff is around 36 pence per kWh, hence it will cost around £ 5.40 (15 kWh X 36p/kWh) to run this 2000 watts electric iron for 15 minutes every day for an entire month in the UK.

• In Canada, the avg. electricity tariff is around C$ 0.156 per kWh, hence it will cost around C$ 2.34 (15 kWh X C$ 0.156/kWh) to run this 2000 watts electric iron for 15 minutes every day for an entire month in Canada.

How Much Does It Cost To Run An Electric Iron:

For your reference, I have calculated the cost to run this 2000 watts electric Iron for 15 minutes daily throughout the entire month in India, the Philippines, the US, the UK, and Canada.

If your country is not in the table, simply note down the power consumption and multiply your electricity tariff to get the running cost.

One thing I would like to point out is,

The above figures show the maximum power consumption of a 2000 watts electric iron, however, the actual power consumption will be 10 % – 40 % on the lower side.

You see, whenever we use an electric iron, its heating element does not run for the entire duration. It turns ON in the beginning and heats the base plate till a set temperature is reached, then it shuts OFF and starts again when the temperature starts falling.

Hence, we can expect the heating element to stay ON for a maximum of 60% of the time, and for the rest of the time, it is OFF.

You can even listen to the sound of the heating element kicking ON and OFF.

I will measure the actual real-time power consumption of an electric iron by using an energy meter. Once that is done I will update the blog with the results.

For now, you can expect the actual power consumption of the electric iron will be 60% of what we have calculated.

Electricity Consumption Of Different Wattage Electric Iron:

For your reference, I have made the below table that shows the power consumption of a range of electric iron of different wattages. I have assumed 15 minutes of daily operation for an entire month.

As I said before, the above values show the maximum power consumption of electric iron, however, the actual power consumption can be as low as 60% of these values.

Still, it’s safe to say that electric irons do not consume a lot of power since they are used for a small duration of time.

Now go ahead and use the below calculator to find out the power consumption of your electric iron.

Just type the wattage of your electric iron, the number of hours of usage, and your electricity tariff, and let the calculator do the math for you.

Electric Clothes Iron Power Consumption Calculator:

Remember, the above-calculated value shows the maximum power consumption of electric iron, however, the actual power consumption can be 10 % – 40 % on the lower side depending on the operating settings and the reasons I mentioned before.

If you are not happy with the approximate results and you want to know the exact power consumption, then I would suggest you buy a cheap Kill-A-Watt Meter from amazon.

Calculate the exact power consumption of any Iron using Kill A Watt Meter:

Kill A Watt Meter is a simple device that gives real-time data on the power consumption of any device.

You can check it on amazon using this link – Kill A Watt Electricity Usage Monitor

To use a kill-a-watt meter to calculate the power consumption of your electric iron, first, connect your electric iron plug into the kill-a-watt meter and then plug the kill-a-watt meter in your wall socket and you are good to go.

Then start using your clothes iron and you can see in real-time how many kWh (units) of electricity it is consuming.

You can check out these articles to know more about the power consumption of space heaters, and the power

Meanwhile, you can check out these articles to know more about the power consumption of space heaters, and the power consumption of garage heaters.

Check out the following articles to know the power consumption of other appliances:

• Power consumption of infrared heaters.
• Power consumption of electric baseboard heaters.
• Power consumption of an electric blanket.
• Power consumption of an electric kettle.
• Power consumption of an electric fireplace.
• Power consumption of an electric water heater.
• Power consumption of an electric immersion heater.
• Power consumption of a refrigerator.
• Power consumption of a dehumidifier.
• Power consumption of a washing machine.

You can check out this article to know more about the power consumption of common household appliances.

Check out my articles on solar power for home and how it can help you save your electricity bill.

Thank you for reading.

Aavjo

References:

• https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/electricity_prices/
• https://www.statista.com/statistics/263492/electricity-prices-in-selected-countries/
• https://beeindia.gov.in/
• https://www.morphyrichardsindia.com/Steam-iron-c-30.aspx