Lots of us love to work out. It’s a great way of staying warm, getting fit, and feeling fantastic. If you consider your body to be a temple and you work out regularly, you may use a rowing machine. These are pretty much staples at gyms up and down the country. However, have you thought about owning one at home? You could use it when you like, maybe before or after work? Even at weekends, you could enjoy a workout without any travel to the gym. Before you buy one, a couple of the things to consider are the cost and running costs. How much electricity does a rowing machine use? Let’s have a look!
What Is A Rowing Machine?
A rowing machine is a common piece of exercise equipment, often found at gyms and leisure centres. You might find it near treadmills or exercise bikes. A rowing machine allows you to get fit via rowing. It can also be used for rowers to practise without a boat or water. The machine offers all abilities the chance to have a full body workout. It builds power and endurance whilst being great for your heart and lungs. Many of them have digital screens whilst can display statistics of performance, or even give a graphic of a rowing boat so you can see your journey down a waterway. There are many different makes and models, from basic to all-singing-all-dancing!
How Much Do Rowing Machines Cost?
Rowing machines can cost anywhere from £200 to £1000+. Of course, they all have different features and technology as part of the product. Some of them are fairly basic, whilst others have onboard screens and can connect to the internet. If you are looking to buy one, you might be swayed by all the bells and whistles but do you need that? Some machines don’t even need plugging in and are standalone products. Others though, do require mains power for digital screens and other technical aspects.
How Much Electricity Does A Rowing Machine Use?
A rowing machine that is plugged into the mains will still be using electricity on standby. This might not seem like much but it certainly adds up over the course of a year. Simply unplug it when not in use! Different makes and models will use varying amounts of power, ranging from the likes of 746w to 1900w.
Based on the Energy Price Guarantee unit cost of 34p, 1.9 kWh would be just under 65p for a 60-minute row. 45 minutes would be 48p, 2 hours, £1.29. The lower energy usage of 746w would be 25p if rowing for an hour, or 38p if it was 90 minutes. Of course, some people have shorter rows, so 15 minutes would be just over 6p.
Generate Your Own Electricity
Earlier in 2022, SportsArt released an eco-rower machine that lets you generate electricity as you work out. The effort put into operating a rowing machine by the user is huge, so harnessing that to create electricity is a wonderful breakthrough. The energy created from the G260 ECO-POWR Rower can be plugged back into the machine or used to power other devices. There are a number of these machines now available, utilising the power that is generated. Absolutely genius!
Would A Gym Membership Make More Sense?
When you see the cost of a rowing machine, along with the running costs of having one at home, is your gym membership worth sticking with? If you’re paying just under 50p a day for a 45 minute row, that works out to £3.50 a week, or £14 a month. That is great if you are only rowing. However, if you can find a £20 a month gym membership, you’re not paying that much more for probably the offering of more equipment, classes and maybe even a swimming pool.
You also need to consider what else you’d be paying for when working out at home. You will have lighting, heating, and perhaps music playing out. Then the energy consumption your shower afterwards. With that in mind, your gym membership might actually be more efficient. Plus you don’t have a rowing machine dominating your spare room, so that bedroom can actually be a usable space for people to sleep in.
Final Thoughts
The question was how much electricity does a rowing machine use? Now we know the answer, we can see if the associated costs are within our budget. Exercising in other ways or at other venues could be better for your financial situation. Whatever you decide, have fun working out!
