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How Much Electricity Do Water Dispensers Use? (Watts & Amps)

Water dispenser machines are essential for distributing water to human beings. It helps to warm or cool the water and dispense it to the people who want to have some water. These machines can provide hot or cold water as well according to your preference.

You may ask about how much electricity do water dispensers use. Let us help you find the answer and help you get some interesting information regarding this matter.

How much electricity do water dispensers use? (Watts & Amps)

Water dispensers use around 300 – 2800 watts per hour and 2.5 – 25.45 amps depending on your usage scenario. Water dispensers use less electricity. Thus, it consumes fewer watts and amps. On the other hand, dispensing hot water requires more watts and amps.

Water dispensers are essential appliances for us. These provide us with water according to our preference. That means it can provide us with either cold or hot water. This is vital for us.

The dispenser uses electricity to warm or cool the water. Although the machine does not consume a significant amount of water, electricity consumption will vary depending on the use case. The consumption of electricity also depends on the duration of time it operates.

There are various kinds of water dispensers available in the market. Among them, Primo water dispenser is a famous brand. You may want to know how much energy various types of water dispensers consume. 

Here are some popular water dispenser types and the amount of energy that it consumes:

Electric hot and cold water dispenser:

Electric hot and cold water dispenser consumes around 1200 watts. The amount of electricity consumed by an electric hot and cold water dispenser will vary depending on the use cases. 

If it is used for just dispensing cold water, it may consume around 160 watts. Whereas if the same machine is used for just hot water, it may consume about 1500 watts.

Instant hot water dispenser:

Instant hot water dispensers require around 2000 watts. As an instant hot water dispenser needs to keep the water warm at all times, it needs constant electricity. 

Thus, it will need a high amount of electricity to keep the temperature of the water around 198 Fahrenheit. 

You may want to know the electricity usage and cost of a hot and cold water dispenser comparing the amount of water. Here is a table with the numbers:

Amount of WaterCold Water Electricity UsageHot Water Electricity UsageCost of Electricity (per day)
0.26 Gal13.6 watts57 watts3.83 cents
0.52 Gal27.2 watts114 watts7.67 cents
0.78 Gal40.8 watts171 watts11.49 cents
1 Gal50.3 watts211 watts13.5 cents

What determines the energy consumption of a water dispenser?

Multiple factors determine the energy consumption of a water dispenser. If you want to know, here are some key factors that are required to determine the energy consumption of a water dispenser:

Time to dispense hot or cold water:

If your water dispenser provides you with instant hot water, it means that it keeps the water warm all the time. So, it means that it uses electricity all the time to keep the water warm and dispense it instantly when required. 

Consumption of electricity will be high compared to water dispensers which provide delayed dispense of hot water.

Duration of operation:

The amount of time that a water dispenser is used is a significant factor in determining energy consumption. If the dispenser is used the whole day, it will consume more energy than using it for a certain amount of time in the whole day.

Amount of hot and cold water dispense:

If the dispenser is used to dispense a lot of hot water, it will require a lot of electricity. Thus, the energy consumption will be high. But if the dispenser is used to dispense cold water, the consumption energy will be minimum. 

This is an important factor to determine energy consumption.

Do water dispensers use a lot of electricity?

Water dispensers do not use a lot of electricity. Water dispensers are light-load appliances. It consumes a small amount of electricity during its operational timeline. 

If we compare it with other appliances at home, we may find that it consumes a limited amount of power on a monthly basis compared with others.

A water dispenser may consume around 300 – 1200 watts per day. It may consume even less than that based on its usage. Although it can be a power-consuming machine, it can consume much less energy compared with other appliances used at your home and office.

Are water dispensers cost-effective?

Water dispensers are cost-effective. Water dispensers are a great alternative for bottled water. Bottled water is expensive. Due to individual packaging, bottled water is expensive compared with other available options.

Among all other options, a water dispenser is the most effective and economical method. The water dispenser comes in a big package. It can be used to distribute the water among everyone efficiently.

Moreover, there is no problem with packaging it separately. So, water dispensers can help to distribute water efficiently in various methods like cups, mugs, and many more. There is no hassle of bottling the water and distributing them among others which may save a lot of money.

Do all water dispensers use electricity?

All water dispensers do not use electricity. There are various kinds of water dispensers available in the market. Although most people prefer water dispensers with heating and cooling features, there are water dispensers in the market that do not use any kind of electricity.

These water dispensers are common too. These water dispensers either use gravity or a manual pumping mechanism to dispense water from the source. But these dispensers cannot heat or cool the water as there is no source of electricity to operate such an operation.

Can a water dispenser work without electricity? What water dispensers work without electricity?

Yes, a water dispenser can work without electricity. Standing dispensers can work without any electricity. It uses a gravity-based mechanism to work and dispense water to the person who wants to drink. But this does not require any kind of electricity to distribute the water.

There is another kind of water dispenser that uses a pumping mechanism. A handheld pumping feature is set on a water source to pump the water up from the source to the dispenser head. 

Although this dispenser requires physical labor, it does not require any kind of electricity to operate.

Pumping dispensers and standing dispensers can work without electricity. Both of these dispensers use no electricity to dispense water. They may use electricity to cool or heat the water but do not use it to distribute it. 

Therefore, these water dispensers are usually cheap and affordable.

Should I turn off the water dispenser at night?

You should turn off the water dispenser at night. If your water dispenser is connected to any electricity source, it is likely to always consume electricity depending on its operational method. 

A water dispenser can consume around 140 – 800 watts of electricity if kept on standby for the whole day.

This means that you will have to spend almost 2 – 3.5$ per month if you keep it running overnight. Although the amount is very small, it can become a big number in the long run. 

Thus, you should turn off your water dispenser at night to save electricity and some money on your monthly electricity bill.

Are water dispensers worth it?

Water dispensers are worth it for various reasons. Here are some important reasons that we think make a water dispenser worth using:

Less cost than bottled water:

Bottled water is expensive. It is more costly when you need a lot. Water dispensers can reduce your expense a lot like a bit bottle of purified water costs less than multiple bottled water equivalent of that. 

The reason behind it is that there is no extra cost of making individual bottles.

Ease of distribution:

You can easily distribute water using a water dispenser. You do not have to keep  track of how many bottles there are left and if there are enough bottles remaining. 

It also helps to reduce waste of water as people can take whatever amount they need according to their requirement.

Cost-effective cooling or heating:

You do not have to cool or heat the water in any other medium. If you are using bottled or any other medium of water, you may have to use a water heater to heat or a chiller to cool the water. But using a water dispenser cuts that extra cost.

Final thoughts:

Water dispensers use around 1200 watts per hour and 14 amps. These are average rates of consumption. The numbers will vary based on the amount of water that is cooled or heated, duration of operation, and time required to cool or heat water. Thus, watts and amps vary a lot based on these factors.