On Fri, 15 Jun 2007 00:07:59 GMT, M Q
wrote:

mm wrote:

On Thu, 14 Jun 2007 17:05:06 GMT, M Q
wrote:
...
Central AC outdoor unit 20-40 watts (two different units)


I don't understand this one. Have AC's changed, or do all brands have
this, and what is outside that is using current when the AC isn't
running? Are we talking about 12 months a year?
...
Yes, we are talking 12 months a year unless you turn off the breakers.

One of the ACs was a 4 Ton Carrier unit. The power was consumed
by a 40 watt "crankcase heater". These are more common in larger
(4, 5, or more ton) AC condensers (outdoor units), those that are a longer
distance from the indoor unit, those that use R-410a, and in heat pumps.

OK. It's not that my system is all that matters, but it's all that I
control, I would be upset if it were in my control to stop wasting
electricity and I didn't. None of these factors apply to me, except
maybe R-410a if that is the old stuff, and I'm pretty certain I don't
have a crankcase heater.

Sometimes they are thermostatically controlled. This one was not.

The other is a 3 Ton Trane 2-stage condenser. The 20 watts appeared
to be consumed by a variable speed fan controller. This one is

I don't have a variable speed fan controller either. My outdoor fan
has one speed, and my indoor fan has one of three speeds, set by
connecting wires.

But I'll have to upgrade someday and now I'll know to turn my AC off
at the breakers after that, for the 11 or 10 months a year I don't use
it.

totally inexcusable, as an added relay would pay for itself in less
than 1/2 a year.

Sounds inexcusable

These are the sort of things that California's Vampire Slayer bill
(which appears to have not become law) that the OP referred to might
embarrass manufacturers into cleaning up.

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.

I'd like to better understand that and what Dave said. I once asked
about the difference between volt-amps and watts and didn't get a real
answer iirc. I haven't googled.