Data Sources | Appliance Cost Lab

The formulas are defined in the methodology. The sources below inform educational guidance; they do not replace the user's own product label, meter reading, utility tariff, or safety instructions. Every external source listed below was manually checked on August 14, 2026.

1. Formula and unit references

NIST Guide to the SI, Appendix B.8 — unit and energy conversion reference.
U.S. Energy Information Administration: Measuring electricity — definitions of watts, watt-hours, and kilowatt-hours.

2. Measurement guidance

U.S. Department of Energy: Measuring Standby Power — IEC 62301-based standby measurement approaches and use of energy over time to calculate average power. This does not validate the site's illustrative sensitivity multipliers as meter-accuracy specifications.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory: Frequently Asked Questions About Standby Power — supports distinctions among low-power states, continuous functions, and targeted measurement. It does not determine whether a particular user may safely disconnect a device or validate preset watts.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory: What Can I Unplug Now? — supports selective, function-aware unplugging and the statement that standby can perform useful tasks. It is not a blanket safety approval and does not validate the site's 80% audit assumption.

3. Whole-home inventory and bill-reference guidance

U.S. Energy Information Administration: Residential Energy Consumption Survey terminology — supports the definitions of billing period, kWh, consumption, expenditure, and the fact that billing-period consumption can be based on actual or estimated readings. It does not validate a user's inventory, annualization, tariff, or coverage result.
Ofgem: Understand your electricity and gas bills — supports distinguishing unit rates and kWh from standing charges, taxes, network costs, and other bill components. It is UK-specific guidance and does not define a universal tariff or validate the site's flat-rate cost estimate.

4. Appliance guidance

DOE: Purchasing Energy-Efficient Televisions — supports television efficiency and purchasing guidance, not the site's 90 W scenario.
ENERGY STAR: Refrigerators and key product criteria — support refrigerator efficiency features and certification criteria, not the site's compressor wattage or duty cycle.
ENERGY STAR: Clothes Washers and certified product finder — support washer efficiency guidance and identification of certified products, not the site's cycle assumptions.
ENERGY STAR: Configuring Game Consoles to Use Less Energy — supports guidance about console power modes and configuration, not the site's gaming wattage.
ENERGY STAR: Digital Media Players — supports connected-media-device efficiency context only; it does not validate console or television preset values.
ENERGY STAR: Computers — supports the distinction among computer active, idle, sleep, and off modes and the role of power management. It does not validate the laptop guide's wattage or schedule inputs.
ENERGY STAR: Learn About LED Lighting — supports LED technology, light-output, heat-management, and product-form explanations. It does not establish a wattage for the guide's single-bulb scenarios.
U.S. Department of Energy: Purchasing Energy-Efficient Light Bulbs — supports consulting product specifications and distinguishes LED products from other lighting. It does not validate the guide's illustrative schedules, watts, or costs.
ENERGY STAR: Dishwashers and Dishwashers Key Product Criteria — support cycle options, soil sensing, water heating, drying, EnergyGuide context, and standardized annual/cycle testing. They do not validate the guide's illustrative kWh-per-cycle inputs.
ENERGY STAR: Clothes Dryers Key Product Criteria — supports the Combined Energy Factor definition, operational/standby scope, electric-dryer types, and cycle-time context. It does not validate the guide's illustrative kWh-per-load inputs.
ENERGY STAR: Dehumidifiers and Dehumidifier Testing and Capacity — support humidity/temperature cycling, capacity, drainage, frost control, and liters-per-kWh efficiency distinctions. They do not predict a user's schedule or validate the guide duty cycles.
USDA FSIS: Cooking with Microwave Ovens — supports the distinction between cooking wattage, power-level cycling, time, and safe food-heating instructions. It does not establish electrical input power or validate the guide scenarios.
EU Delegated Regulation 65/2014: Domestic Oven Energy Labelling — defines standardized electric-oven energy consumption per cycle, conventional and fan-forced modes, and reaching the thermostat setting during the test. It does not establish a universal per-session value, validate site fixtures, or prove that unlike cooking tasks have equal results.
UK Government: Create an Energy Label â€” Domestic Ovens â€” supports model-specific electric-oven energy-label context and fan/conventional distinctions. It does not establish a universal per-session value or validate site fixtures.
Energy Saving Trust: Air Fryer, Oven and Microwave Cooking Comparison â€” supports explaining tested-food context, capacity, batch cooking, preheating, and why task details matter. Its regional tariffs, tested meals, and reported costs do not validate this site's illustrative fixtures or establish a universal winner.
ENERGY STAR: Ceiling Fans — supports fan and light-kit product terminology, product-specific efficiency comparison, sizing and installation context. It does not validate the site's illustrative fan watts, receiver standby, seasonal schedules, results, or comparisons with refrigeration-based cooling. Checked August 14, 2026.
ENERGY STAR: Room Air Conditioners — supports cooling-capacity, room-sizing, installation and product-efficiency context for room air conditioners. It does not validate the site's portable/window-AC watts, duty cycles, standby, seasonal schedules, results, or fan-equivalence assumptions. Checked August 14, 2026.

5. Safety guidance

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission: Reducing Fire Hazards for Portable Electric Heaters — current linked guidance to plug portable heaters directly into a wall outlet and never use an extension cord or power strip.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Microwave Ovens — supports following manufacturer operating instructions and warnings about damaged doors, hinges, latches, seals and interlocks. It does not validate electricity inputs or authorize remote switching.

6. Illustrative assumptions

The preset inputs are simple, editable reference scenarios maintained with the calculator source. They are not scraped product averages or certification values. Each guide publishes its watts, schedule, duty cycle, standby input, and assumed rate beside the result. Fifty-one guide scenarios are regression-tested against the same calculation engine. Six comparison fixtures are likewise centralized and tested against production scenario and comparison functions.

External sources support the specific guidance stated beside them; they do not validate the preset numbers as representative appliance values. The scenario inputs are site-maintained assumptions.

Last reviewed: August 14, 2026