How Much Electricity Does an Incubator Use?

Rated watts vs actual use

The number on the incubator’s rating plate is the most it can draw, with the heater, fan and turner all running. In practice the heater switches on and off to hold temperature, so average use is well below the rating. How far below depends on the room: a machine in a cold room in a Free State winter works much harder than one in a warm room in Limpopo.

Check the rating plate or manual for your machine’s watts, then use the method below.

Work out the cost of one hatch

1. Find the average watts. If you have a plug-in energy meter, measure it over 24 hours. Otherwise, as a rough guide, take half the rated watts.
2. Units per day (kWh) = average watts × 24 ÷ 1,000.
3. Units per hatch = units per day × 21 (chicken eggs).
4. Cost = units per hatch × your price per kWh.

Example only: an incubator averaging 80 W uses 80 × 24 ÷ 1,000 = 1.92 kWh a day, or about 40 kWh over 21 days. At R3.50 per kWh that is about R140 for the hatch. Use your own municipality or Eskom tariff, which varies by area and prepaid block.

Put that figure into the hatchery profit calculator to see profit per batch.

Cut the power bill

• Keep the incubator in a room that stays warm and steady, out of draughts and sunlight.
• Run it full. A full machine costs about the same to heat as a half-empty one.
• Keep the door closed; each opening costs a heat-up.
• Clean the fan so air moves freely.

Sizing backup power

For an inverter, choose one rated above the incubator’s maximum watts (not the average), and batteries that cover the average watts for the longest outage you expect. For a generator, use one that comfortably covers the rated watts. Our load shedding guide covers what to do when the power goes off.