How many electronics are in the average household

Estimate the number of hours per day an appliance runs. There are two ways to do this: - Rough estimate If you know about how much you use an appliance every day, you can roughly estimate the number of hours it runs. For example, if you know you normally watch about 4 hours of television every day, you can use that number.

If you know you run your whole house fan 4 hours every night before shutting it off, you can use that number. To estimate the number of hours that a refrigerator actually operates at its maximum wattage, divide the total time the refrigerator is plugged in by three.

Refrigerators, although turned "on" all the time, actually cycle on and off as needed to maintain interior temperatures. For example, you could record the cooking time each time you use your microwave, work on your computer, watch your television, or leave a light on in a room or outdoors. Find the wattage of the product. There are three ways to find the wattage an appliance uses: - Stamped on the appliance The wattage of most appliances is usually stamped on the bottom or back of the appliance, or on its nameplate.

The wattage listed is the maximum power drawn by the appliance. Many appliances have a range of settings, so the actual amount of power an appliance may consume depends on the setting being used. For example, a radio set at high volume uses more power than one set at low volume.

A fan set at a higher speed uses more power than one set at a lower speed. Most appliances in the United States use volts. Larger appliances, such as clothes dryers and electric cooktops, use volts. The following links are good options: The Home Energy Saver provides a list of appliances with their estimated wattage and their annual energy use, along with other characteristics including annual energy use, based on "typical" usage patterns.

Continue using the equations here if you want to find energy use based on your own usage patterns. In some cases, you can use the provided information to do your own estimates using the equations here. Register for free Already a member? Log in. More information. Other statistics on the topic. Lionel Sujay Vailshery. Research expert covering the consumer electronics industry. Profit from additional features with an Employee Account.

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That amount would fill 1. This e-waste mountain is expected to grow another 17 percent by to In , the world e-waste average was What happened to all those big, old tube TVs that were replaced by flat screens? It entirely depends on where you live.

In the U. Some of the old TVs were recycled domestically, but significant amounts were exported to Mexico, China, and Nigeria. Electronic goods like TVs, laptops, printers, and so on are considered hazardous waste because they often contain toxic heavy metals like lead and mercury. There is a ban on international exports under the Basel Convention , but the U. That has left the transport of spent e-waste overseas a controversial practice. About 30 percent of the e-waste in the U.

These recoverable materials include gold, silver, copper, coltan , platinum, palladium, and other high-value metals. If all the metals were recovered from , phones , they'd yield an estimated 5.

Electronics have a big eco footprint, meaning their manufacture consumes a lot of energy and water, along with valuable and sometimes scarce resources, making recycling and recovery a key way to reduce impact on the planet. A mobile phone can contain 40 to 60 different elements. There is often little interest by manufacturers in making electronic devices repairable or easily recyclable, he said, in a constant pursuit of new sales.

One thing the public would like to see are universal, interchangeable chargers for phones and laptops. Last year the ITU approved a new environmentally friendly standard for a universal charger for laptops and other portable devices. But uptake by the industry remains to be seen.