Does charging up your ipad use much electricity ?

Compared to most household appliances including TVs, not to mention air conditioning, no. Nowhere close. Having air, refrigerators, freezers, water heaters etc, checked would do more to bring that bill down than worrying about charging an iPad.

No it isn't the iPad (as FoxFifth's eloquent replied provides solid data for).

It isn't the iPad. Depending on the model it likely has either a 10 watt or 12 watt charger and actually draws around 8 watts when actually charging. My electric rate is around 9¢ per kilowatt hour. If your iPad charged 24 hours per day for 30 days (which is impossible as it stops when fully charged) it would draw 5.76 kilowatt hours and cost 52¢ -- and the reality is that if you charge it every day it is likely charging for an hour or so and costing only 2¢ or 3¢ per month.

Thanks Peter -- I had one sort of nasty reply on another topic a while back as can happen here and on other forums, so it is nice to hear something positive!

Excellent and informative post