M Q writes:

Note: some of the power consumption figures that I mentioned were
apparent power (measured in "Volt-Amps" -- the vector sum of real
power and reactive power) because it was easier to measure, and
some were in real power (measured in Watts). Kill-A-Watt measures both.
Residential power meters generally measure real power. The cost to the utility
is somewhere in between.

It's pretty bogus to add up VA power numbers as if they were watts, then
calculate how much you would pay per year. If your meter measures real
power (and as you say, it probably does), then the cost depends on the
real power consumed.

For things with resistive heaters, real and apparent power are about the
same and it doesn't matter. But for something like half of the loads
you listed, the power is probably almost all magnetising current in a
transformer, with a very low power factor. For these loads, the real
power is a fraction of the apparent power, and using apparent power will
produce a large error.

Dave