Bill Tauber the "Green Energy Coach™"

Nearly everything you can plug into the wall has a label that says how much electricity it uses. It may be printed directly into the plastic or the metal. It's often located on the bottom or side of the device, or possibly where the power cord enters the device. If the device is powered with an AC/DC adapter, the electrical rating is usually listed on the adapter itself.

Now, if the label only gives the number of amps and not the number of watts, then just multiply the amps by 120 to get the number of watts. Most homes and businesses electricity is 120 volts. So if electric shaver that uses 8 amps uses 8 x 120 = 960 watts. Now if a device is powered by a transformer (one of those great big plugs), then the transformer has converted the electricity from AC to DC, so you need to multiply by the DC voltage. For example, if the device says "INPUT 9V, 0.5A", then that's 9 volts x 0.5 amps = 4.5 watts.

Remember - The amount of electricity listed on the label is the maximum amount that the appliance will ever use