How does power consumption with appliances work? For things like refrigerators and coffee machines, is there a low draw of power since it’s in an “idle” mode and only ramps up when it’s cooling or being used? Same with my computer? My Graphics card is rated to 341w. Is that under the highest of loads or is that a constant draw?
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It really depends, appliance is a broad term.
A fridge needs the most energy (more power for longer time) when it’s first put into operation, because it has to cool itself and all the new content down from room temperature. Once everything is at the set temperature, it will only have to sporadically compensate for the degree it has deviated from the set temperature. This happens because no thermal insulation is perfect, because from time to time one opens it, because you put new stuff in it that is warmer than the fridge,…
A coffee machine really uses power when it has to heat up water, some filter coffee machines also to keep the plate warm. A TV uses power when it has to show video and play sound. A washing machine uses power when it’s washing. A bit to pump water, another bit to make the drum spin (more to start spinning, less to keep it spinning at the same speed), a lot to heat up water for higher temperature programs, a little bit for display and such. Your PC has a baseline power draw when turned on and idling, and from there it will need the more power, the more performance you demand from it. Same for the graphics card itself. When you start a graphics intensive game and all the fans spin up, that’s because the card gets hotter, which in turn is because it has more work to do, needs more power to do that and that power ultimately ends up turning to heat. Your 340W will likely (and hopefully) use less than 10% of that to just show you a spreadsheet.
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