Electricity at trade shows is billed based on your actual usage. Many exhibitors are shocked to learn the cost of electricity, even if it was advertised in the exhibiting agreement. Personally, I don’t know the difference between a watt and a volt, but typically exhibit electricity is billed by wattage, and here is the wattage used for a number of common power consuming appliances (thank you Exhibitor Magazine):
- TV: ~50 watts
- Sound System: ~75 watts
- Computer: ~400 watts
- Fax Machine: ~60 watts
- LCD Projector: ~300 watts
- DVD Player: ~50 watts
- 50-inch Plasma: ~500 watts
If you have to pre-order your electricity, always order more than you need. It would be disastrous if you ran out in the middle of your event.
It does seem like there is quite a huge markup for electricity at these shows. Often it amazes me what it costs to be able to actually have one of our stoves running at home shows we go attend.