Hi there!
I'm getting super psyched about raw from poking my nose around this site. I can't believe all of the great sounding recipes!
I'm wondering how using a food dehydrator impacts your electric bill. It would seem that, being on so often, it might use a lot.
Love,
Shannon
i think it depends how much you use it. since i've been raw since january 09, ive used it about 10 times (most of them drying out fruit). it doesn't really put a dent in your bill if you use it that little. and i try not to keep my dehydrator on long because it's a breading ground for bacteria. i start it at 145 for the first hour then back it done to 115 or 105, depending on what i'm dehydrating. the quicker it's in and out is better.
My husband calculated this for us, because he objected to the dehydrator for energy reasons. Luckily, we realized that it doesn't cost much so he conceded to my buying one.
Based on our electricity rates (approx. $0.15 per kilawatt hour), if the dehydrator was on at 105 degrees ALL DAY EVERY DAY ALL MONTH the cost would be an additional $25 per month on our electricity bill. Obviously, most people won't have their dehydrators on 24/7, so it should be lower than that.
My dehydrator is an 8-tray Vegikiln (it's basically an Excalibur knock-off). Hope that helps!
http://www.therawtarian.com