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You and your housemate have an argument over the cost of the electric bill. You

ID: 1314252 • Letter: Y

Question

You and your housemate have an argument over the cost of the electric bill. You want to turn off the outside porch light before going to bed each night. Your housemate wishes to keep the light on from 6:00 PM each evening to 6:00 AM the next morning and says that this will not add any significant amount to the electric bill. If the porch light bulb is a 70 W bulb, how much will your housemate's plan contribute to the electric bill each month? Take the number of days in a month as 30 and the average cost of electricity is 8.50¢/kW · h.

Explanation / Answer

total power used by bulb in one month = 70*12*30

total power = 25.2 KW-h

total bill = 25.2*8.50 = 214.2 cents