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Current motor and electric bill

David A Morris

David A Morris

Joined
Dec 3, 2025
Messages
134
Likes
45
Location
Colebrook NH
Website
ebay.com
I've been running my old Craftsman lathe for a month now and just got my first electric bill. OMG! The motor is an older 1/3 hp 1750 rpm 120 volt. Is there the possibility of buying a new motor, maybe 3/4 hp, that will drop my power usage to an affordable level?
 
Where I am the answer would be to go from 240v single phase to 220v three phase via a VFD they are not expensive and this will allow for electronic variable speed via frequency control.
But keep in mind, low frequency low torque. So what I do is to keep the stepped pulley set up and put the belt on the slowest speed . This then gives you more troque low down and you should be ok.
 
At most, under full load constantly, that would draw under 500 watts. 12kwhrs a day, or about two dollars at typical rates, if run hard 24/7, which would burn it up in short order.

In reality, it's extremely unlikely that the lathe contributed more than a dollar to your bill.
 
Aaron Sluis said:
At most, under full load constantly, that would draw under 500 watts. 12kwhrs a day, or about two dollars at typical rates, if run hard 24/7, which would burn it up in short order.

In reality, it's extremely unlikely that the lathe contributed more than a dollar to your bill.
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All right, guess I'll look elsewhere for the energy drain. I heat my house exclusively with firewood so I know it's not the heater. Thank you for the info.
 
David A Morris said:
All right, guess I'll look elsewhere for the energy drain. I heat my house exclusively with firewood so I know it's not the heater. Thank you for the info.
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There are lights, removing incandeescent light can save a lot. I have LED through out probably the equvalent to couple 100 watt bulbs. We have three bedrooms, two bath , open plan living , plus me in the garage. There some health consideration with going to LED's othe than that they are more cost effective.
 
hughie said:
There are lights, removing incandeescent light can save a lot. I have LED through out probably the equvalent to couple 100 watt bulbs. We have three bedrooms, two bath , open plan living , plus me in the garage. There some health consideration with going to LED's othe than that they are more cost effective.
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I have LED s everywhere but the garage. I still use tube fluorescents out there but they get used whether I'm turning or not. Occasionally I'll forget to turn one off but that's rare
 
Look and see if your rate per kWH has gone up a bunch-- it certainly has across the border in MA. Also see whether the number of kWH used has changed significantly. To sort out all the fluff they put into your bill these days just take the monthly total and divide by the total number of kWh for the month to get the actual rate you're paying for your usage level.

With typical rates running 30-35 cents/kWH in this part of the world even a couple extra kWH per day can add up to $20-50/month very easily. It's making investing in solar panels look like a better deal every day-- we added to our system two years ago so that our bill now averages very close to zero for the year. One of my less foolish choices in terms of return on investment.
 
Roger Wiegand said:
Look and see if your rate per kWH has gone up a bunch-- it certainly has across the border in MA. Also see whether the number of kWH used has changed significantly. To sort out all the fluff they put into your bill these days just take the monthly total and divide by the total number of kWh for the month to get the actual rate you're paying for your usage level.

With typical rates running 30-35 cents/kWH in this part of the world even a couple extra kWH per day can add up to $20-50/month very easily. It's making investing in solar panels look like a better deal every day-- we added to our system two years ago so that our bill now averages very close to zero for the year. One of my less foolish choices in terms of return on investment.
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I'll do that. Thanks for the tips.
 
Lou Jacobs said:
Just a thought out of left field: you are in New Hampshire and at the beginning of the heating season. Do you heat with electricity? Could just be a coincidence that you started turning recently.
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No, I heat with firewood. I've lived here for 20 years and have never turned on the heaters. Thank you for the thought though.
 
I'd recommend getting or borrowing a device call "Kill A Watt" . This plugs in to the wall, and in turn you plug in your device to it, and it will tell you how much power something is using. Truly an eye opener. I was not aware of just how much power many devices use even when "off". Anything with a clock, for example, will pull power - Stove, TV, Computer etc. These parasitic drains can add up significantly.

I have a couple of larger aquariums, and we were always worried about the power consumption. I did some research, and learned about DC pumps. Using the Kill A Watt, I could verify the reduction in electric consumption of over 50% by converting to DC pumps from AC.
 
Kirk Amidon said:
I'd recommend getting or borrowing a device call "Kill A Watt" . This plugs in to the wall, and in turn you plug in your device to it, and it will tell you how much power something is using. Truly an eye opener. I was not aware of just how much power many devices use even when "off". Anything with a clock, for example, will pull power - Stove, TV, Computer etc. These parasitic drains can add up significantly.

I have a couple of larger aquariums, and we were always worried about the power consumption. I did some research, and learned about DC pumps. Using the Kill A Watt, I could verify the reduction in electric consumption of over 50% by converting to DC pumps from AC.
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I'll look into it, thank you all for your input.
 
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