Sign off your AM transmitter

Savings Calculator

This savings calculator can give a general idea of a radio station's potential savings by turning off it's transmitter between the hours of midnight and 6 am.

You will need:

1. A Javascript enabled web browser
2. A copy of your latest utility bill from the transmitter site
3. To know your nighttime operating power from the station license. Keep in mind; directional stations normally operate with 10% more power than non-directionals

Savings Calculator Inputs	Environmental impact
Utility bill amount paid: $	Avoided CO2 pounds per day
Power purchased used this bill   kWh	Avoided CO2 pounds per month
Transmitter power output: TPO (KW)	Avoided CO2 pounds per year
	Avoided SO2 pounds per day
Savings Calculator Outputs	Avoided SO2 pounds per month
Cost per kWh $	Avoided SO2 pounds per year
Avoided kWh  per day	Avoided NOx pounds per day
Estimated savings $ per day	Avoided NOx pounds per month
Estimated savings $ per month	Avoided NOx pounds per year
Estimated savings $ per year

Based on the following formula:

(TPO x eff x (Cost/use) x 6 = savings per day

Where:

• TPO = Transmitter power output in KW (from license)
• eff = Transmitter efficiency (53.6%)
• Cost = Cost of electric used over one billing cycle
• Use = Amount of kWh used over one billing cycle (same cycle as cost)
• 6 = number of hours transmitter to be signed off per day

This calculator does not take into account additional loads such as air conditioning, individual results may vary

Class D stations which operate at greatly reduced power (less than 100 watts) with a medium powers (5 to 10 KW) transmitter will have much lower efficiencies than used in this calculator. This is because those transmitters have large cooling fans and power supplies which still run all out even if the station is only transmitting at low power. Consult your owner's manual to determine what the efficiency of your transmitter is then use the above formula to calculate your savings manually.