Measuring the Power Consumption of GFCI and AFCI circuits

Modern US homes have a lot more electrical circuit protection than they once had. Ground and Arc fault circuits are great at preventing electrocution and house fires. What is their power consumption?

It's hard to be completely accurate here, but I've measured a bunch using a combination of my Kill-o-watt meter and my Emporia Gen 2 Vue.

My measurements suggest that these devices use roughly 0.5 watts each. In total, that works out to 4.4 KWh per GFCI/AFCI per year:

(0.5 watts x 8766 hrs/year) ÷ 1000 watts/KW = 4.383 KWh/year

Again, this is an estimate. It could be 3.5 or 4.8 KWh per year, but you get the idea.

Total GFCI / AFCI Load On My Electricity Bill

I have 27 circuits with these features (18 modern breakers and 9 outlets). So multiplying 4.383 KWh/year by 27 circuits, and we get a total draw of 118.3 KWh/year. That's a measurable amount of money. That's about $142 per decade using today's US-average electricity cost.

The Cost/Value of GFCI / AFCI

So is it worth spending $142 a decade for these devices? Here's the way I look at it:

Fewer of these would reduce electricity use.
My full collection of these is less than 1/6th the draw of a single traditional incandescent light bulb.
A fire or electrocution could easily be hundreds or thousands of times more expensive than $142.

Savings opportunities

Here are some ideas to save some costs without reducing protection

Using GFCI breakers that protect many outlets are likely more cost and power efficient than GFCI outlets that only protect only one outlet: itself.
Simply turn off the circuits that are not in use.

Fixing a SodaStream Jet, part 1: Disassembly Guide

I've had my SodaStream Jet for years, and once in a while something has gone wrong. Disassembly is the first step to repair. Start with this article to see how to disassemble the SodaStream, and then once you have that down, scroll through my other articles to see how I repaired specfic SodaStream problems. SodaStream Jet Disassembly Guide Tools Required Flat head screwdriver Phillips head screwdriver 1. Remove the Carbonator. Duh. 2. Remove the black panel lever The front big black tilt lever needs to be removed first. Removing this panel is tricky, but it isn't impossible. Looking up at the bottom of the black panel, there are two tabs, one on the left and one on the right. These tabs fully secure the panel in place. The trick is to use a flat-head screwdriver under the plastic to gently lever the tabs out of the way. Note in the pictures how I approach these tabs with my screwdriver. I usually release the left side first, and then I release the right

Sodastream Carbonator Leakage, Usage, and Weight

SodaStream 60L "Carbonator" CO2 cylinders have a specific weight when empty, plus about 410 or so grams for the CO2 they should have when they're "full". A little while ago I went to buy a replacement Carbonator from my local hardware store. The dealer pulled a new Carbonator out of the box and sensed it was lighter than usual. He put the "light" Carbonator in the "empty" pile and sold me a different one. At that moment I concluded that it would be smart of me to weigh both new and empty SodaStream carbonators. Here are the results. Weighing a SodaStream Carbonator - for both Science and Consumer Protection. The dealer told me that sometimes the carbonators leak after they leave the SodaStream filling facility. That means there could be an opportunity for customers like me to get ripped off! The SodaStream cylinders I buy claim to have a net product weight of 410 grams - and that means that a full Soda Stream Carbonator shou

Fixing a SodaStream Jet, Repair #2 - Broken Fill Button

My Soda Stream Jet's fill button broke, which means I can not longer carbonate water by pressing the pushbutton. This caused all sorts of grief in my household. Here is how I managed to repair my Jet to give it another 10 years of life (hopefully). First, a look at the button The fill button on the top of the SodaStream is actually a simple lever. Pressing down on the button moves a pin that does the actual work of pressing open the Carbonator's valve. Unfortunately, the axis point is fairly thin and can see a lot of stress. That's where my Soda Stream button cracked. [ I think the usage tip here is "don't over-press the button like a gorilla, it doesn't do anything but put high stress on the button."] Cracked levering point of the button The Pesky Lever Retaining Pin The Fix It was pretty easy for me to replace the button: Take off the back of the Soda Stream and remove the carbonator. Push out the the button lever's steel retaining pin. This takes qu

Fixing my Wahl 9918 Groomsman Beard and Mustache Trimmer

Not everyone would bother repairing a $25 beard trimmer, but why not fix something for under $5 instead of spending another $25? My Wahl 9918 Groomsman Beard and Mustache Trimmer has admirably performed its beauty duty for many years, but the time came when the battery just wasn't holding a charge any more. Most people would just put the trimmer in the trash and buy a new one, but I figured I could repair my otherwise excellent Wahl and save some money. In fact, even high priced trimmer and rotary shaver brands, like Norelco and Remington, can be easily repaired using a process similar to the one I used to fix my Wahl. Read on to find out how. I opened up the Wahl by popping off the black plastic faceplate with a tiny flathead screwdriver, which revealed two screws. By removing the two screws I was able to easily open up the unit, revealing the guts of the device. Backplate off, Revealing the screws The internals are rather simple: a motor, a simple circuit boar

Performace and reliability testing of a G.hn Coax to Ethernet Adapter pair

I happened upon a set of Coax to Ethernet adapters and I decided to do an analysis of them. The adapters I found, by Commscope, use the G.hn protocol. This protocol is used for many media types, with the general idea that existing or legacy cabling can be repurposed for modern home networking. I have some existing idle Coax in the walls and ceiling of my house, so I decided to try these adapters with this legacy copper. Testing The home coax run I decided to try is a bit more than 10 meters long. I set up two PC clients on my network, with one PC being attached to one of these adapters, which was then attached to the 10 meter long cable. At the far end I attached the other adapter, which was then attached to my primary Ethernet switch. The coax cable was in three distinct segments, 1 meter + 10 meters + 0.5 meters, all joined together with F-style couplers. Network tested via iPerf Results I successfully ran four trials of iPerf3 between my two PCs, each running 5 simultaneous

Installing a CarPlay radio in a Honda CRV

I ended up buying a 2013 Honda CRV and decided to replace the stock radio/CD player with an upgraded unit. This was far easier and cheaper than I imagined, but the hardest part was selecting a unit to buy This article covers how I made my choice. The basic form factor for my CRV head unit Selecting a Unit The Car I have a 2013 CR/V, which is the same series of all of the CR/Vs from model year 2012 through 2016. Therefore it was important to find a radio unit that fits this model. The CRV has steering wheel radio controls, and I wanted to use them. This uses a technology called CAN-Bus, which is kind of like USB for cars. Therefore, a CAN-Bus capability would be able to leverage all these steering wheel features. In addition, the CRV has a backup camera that would be nice to tie into. And of course I wanted to leverage the existing speakers and USB port. Form Factor I wanted a unit that had a big display, and I wanted a unit that was easy to purchase and install. Therefore, I

The Lance J. Technoweb

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