How to calculate my electricity bill
Once you know how much electricity your appliances and devices consume monthly, it is easy to estimate how much your monthly electricity bills will set you back.
Firstly, you should try to find your most recent electricity bill from your supplier to find the unit rate. This is how much you will pay per kWh, and is sometimes referred to as the ‘electric rate’.
For variable-rate plan users, this rate can vary month to month, which will make it a little more difficult to estimate future electricity bills. One distinct benefit of fixed rate plans is the ability to estimate with much greater accuracy.
Once you have found out how much you pay per unit of energy, simply multiply this figure by your estimated monthly usage from earlier.
Example:
Monthly Usage (kWh) x Electricity Rate ($/kWh) = Approximate Cost per Month
When calculating these figures, it is worthwhile to bare in mind that although they may not seem like an awful lot – they do begin to add up across the house. Appliances will also only count towards a portion of your electricity bill, and things like heating, cooling, and lighting will add to your costs further. If your house has a meter than can be read, it is possible to multiply the kWh for the month by the electricity rate for a more accurate estimation.
For an instant and easy estimation – simply grab your latest few bills from the past couple months and give them a quick scan. Find the monthly cost for each, add them, and then divide by the number of months – this will give an average figure.
For the most part, calculating electricity bills is mostly a matter of knowing how much electricity you use per month, and being aware of what your agreed unit price is. Having a handle on these two things will always go a long way to estimating future bills. If cutting back on your electricity usage doesn’t seem to have much of an effect on billing, or you have a variable rate contract that makes it a little more difficult to estimate with accuracy – then it may be time to have a shop around for a new contract.
How to reduce your electricity bill
From information released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), most of household electricity use comes from several key areas. For most average homes, heating and cooling account for roughly 32% of total used electricity, water heating makes up 14%, and household kitchen appliances with 11% of total energy consumption.
For cost-conscious customers looking to save a few dollars, it is easy to lower your energy bill. Simply follow these steps below:
- Set your thermostat to an energy-efficient temperature. In the winter, 68 degrees is optimum. In the summer, set it to 78 degrees. If you should ever be away from home for an extended period of time, you should raise or lower your thermostat settings so you aren’t paying extra to heat a house without you in it!
- Lower your water heater temperature to around 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Not only will this help you lower your monthly energy bills, but it will also slow the build-up and corrosion in your home’s water heater and pipes!
- Look to use Energy Star-certified appliances where possible. These appliances consume a lot less electricity when compared to other non-certified models.
- If you own a heated swimming-pool, this one is for you. Did you know that for every extra degree warmer you set your pool’s heater – you will pay 10-30% more for heating costs?
- It is not well known by most that electronics make up around 7 percent of total electricity costs. Because of this, it may be worthwhile to invest in some energy-efficient computers, TVs, or games consoles. Some even come with a ‘power saving’ setting built-in, which can lower electronic usage even further.
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