Thread: Wood lathe running costs?

Most of the time the motor is just making up the losses in the system. Not much work.
Only when you load it up is it drawing near a full load and that would be a pretty small percentage of the time.

Say an average of half power ~500w x 8 hrs x 10c/kwh = 40c per day

Add lights and others you may make $1.00 for a day.

Not even the cost of a can.

1125W X 8Hrs X 25c (Being generous) = $2.25 a day.

Originally Posted by Tankstand

1125W X 8Hrs X 25c (Being generous) = $2.25 a day.

If you could keep a big gouge dug into the timber all day.

The HP rating is the MAX under load. Most of the time when turning the lathe is idling. (Light cuts, sanding, you just looking, etc).
It draws a lot less power.

Since when was electricity 25c in town.
Mine is under 10c/kwh

Originally Posted by DavidG

Since when was electricity 25c in town.
Mine is under 10c/kwh

I paid today my quarterly bill and I am not amused. (~17c)
Could I please run an extension cable to your place? Or is it another perk only for politicians? With my moderate consumption the difference would be about one grand a year, happy to split in the middle.

Whatever it cost's to run the lathe, it's money well spent - unlike money wasted running things like idiot boxes and dish washers etc (or are they the same thing ).

Hello everyone,

I will comment on some posts, but first, I would like to explain the reason of my thread.
There are 3 (three) specific points to my thread.
1- Find out if people are aware of the runnings costs of an "average" wood lathe.
2- Provide the necessary information and links to those that would like to find out, the easiest way ever, to get the accurate answers.
3- Compare the costs of wood turning as a hobby, against other common hobbies around. (This is a positive incentive, targeting new turners).

DavidG, your general perception is right, just a bit light on the Kw/Ph. I wouldn't mind to pay only that much, unfortunately, the last bill I paid (11/07), I was charged 17.5c p/Kw for 11 days and the new rates at 18.06c p/Kw for 81 days.

Tankstand, I reckon you are maybe a little heavy on those dollars, we will see what happens, when I share the results of tests I've done not that long ago...!

Frank&Earnest, yeah it always hurts when you do it! surprised about the 17c tough?. Maybe some of the information I will share next, will allow you to find out where it all goes!

TTIT, I totally agree with you, on the first bit, but "ain't got" any issues with the idiot boxes, or washing machines, sorry.

Now to the second point of my thread...!
The link bellow, and to avoid repeating myself, is part of my web site, where I have expended a little about the related issue. (a couple pics of my P. Mate). Any questions and or comments will be discussed back in this thread.
http://timberssoul.webs.com/powermatepowerspy.htm

PS: I have attached a pic with the instruments used on my tests (4xchannel temperature data logger, Power Mate)

Cheers
RBTCO

Well timed RBTCO this became a discussion last weekend here at home when for the 2nd Sunday morning we had an outage of the 240 power supply due to a faulty fishpond pump.

Of course comments by the women of the house who know all prior locating the problem was I am running to many electrical items. Now this is first thing Sunday morning just after breakfast.

Checked out your web site great stuff great piece of equipment

but $295 price tag soon eats away that $1000 bucks refund leaves you with $705 unless you bought the $405 or the $345 one.

Have you done tests on such as SCMS or Dust collector etc

Ray

Saving only happen if the greedy power companies stop putting up the charges.

OK two points.

1. The cost of running a hobby workshop (including power and consumables) will pale in comparison with the cost of buying that one more tool we REALLY need to do the job properly. It is therefore irrelevant.

2. Most of us use our WW hobby as a means of maintaining our sanity; it either enables us to continue working, or prevents us from causing serious damage to our surroundings. It is therefore classified as a Good Thing, and should be encouraged, whatever the cost.

Are you sure that was the point of his question?

It might have been a subtle way of telling you that the noise from your lathe is intrusive.

I recently worked out the approximate electricity cost of running my workshop for another purpose. Here are the details:

The workshop cyclone has a 3HP motor that is rated at 2.24 kW. I have measured the current it is drawing under normal operating conditions and it is using 2.4Amps of its maximum rating of 6Amps. That's 40% of 2.24kWh = 0.896kWh.

The lathe has a 3/4 HP motor that is rated at about 0.56kWh. I estimate that I would on average run it at about 50% capacity. That's 50% of 0.56kWh = 0.28kWh.

My other major item of equipment is a 2HP bandsaw, which also gets used at the same time as the cyclone, but for only brief periods of time. I use a few other smaller power tools, mostly when I'm not using the lathe, plus the odd light, but they do not amount to very much compared to the cyclone and lathe.

So, my combined hourly running cost of the cyclone and the lathe comes to 1.176kWh. Like Frank&Earnest, my Adelaide supplier charges me ~17c/kWh. If I use the main items of equipment for six hours a day the cost is $1.20. Not a major cost compared to everything else.

G'Day RBTCO

Found your website very interesting, thanks for sharing I will have a closer look when time permits. Power rate is probably of interest to some here but afraid I am one of the "plug in and have fun" brigade, so choose to keep my head buried in the sand, regarding cost.

Cheers
Bernie

Of course, I was only having a dig at the ACT fat cats!

In my case, which I would assume rather average for an all electrical household, it works at
24 Kwh/day for heating and cooling
11 Kwh/day for lighting and appliances in the house (with 2 kids at home, that includes 3 computers running 24/7!
1 Kwh/day for the shed (airconditioner not connected yet)

You will find out that actual consumption is much less than your theoretical calculations, unless you are really using power tools all day. When my gout flares up, I am afraid I use more power for the computer than for the shed...

I tried doing a costing for my li'l beast and was surprised at just how expensive it is to run.

6 Weet-Bix™ before I start, a ham & salad sandwich around Noon and numerous cups of coffee scattered throughout the day when output begins to flag. At least it's independant of the State Power Grid.

Originally Posted by switt775

OK two points.

1. The cost of running a hobby workshop (including power and consumables) will pale in comparison with the cost of buying that one more tool we REALLY need to do the job properly. It is therefore irrelevant.

2. Most of us use our WW hobby as a means of maintaining our sanity; it either enables us to continue working, or prevents us from causing serious damage to our surroundings. It is therefore classified as a Good Thing, and should be encouraged, whatever the cost.

I agree

This why I call my hobby "ITS my turn"

Mike