More and more Americans are realizing the need to save electricity in order to reduce energy costs and preserve the environment. Any electricity saving plan starts by understanding your electricity usage. You need to know the amount of electricity each function in your home uses so you identify where to improve. This article provides you with the information you need to get a better understanding of your electricity usage.

There are various ways of tracking your electricity consumption. You can use the electricity bills, the electric meter, or the wattage ratings of the equipment in your home.

The Kilowatt-hour (kWh)

The abbreviation kWh is ever present on electricity bills and meters. The standard unit of measuring electric power is the watt (W). However, kilowatts (kW), which is a derivative of the watt, is more common. One thousand watts make one kilowatt. A kilowatt-hour (kWh) is a measure of kilowatts used over time. For example, if you use 1 kilowatt per hour for 10 hours, the meter will read 10 kilowatt-hours.

Most electrical appliances have a wattage rating that you can use to calculate the amount of energy they consume. For example, let's say you want to calculate the amount of electricity a 500W TV will consume if it's on for 10 hours. This TV will use 0.5 kilowatts per hour. It will, therefore, consume 5 kilowatt-hours over the 10 hours.

How to read electric meter

How to read electric meter is easy. Reading your electric meter is a way of knowing the amount of electricity you have consumed over a particular period. For example, if you want to know your daily consumption, you will subtract the meter reading at the beginning of the day from the reading at the day's end. There are three types of electric meters in use today: standard, digital, and smart meters. Knowing how to read your meter is essential to understanding your electricity usage.

Standard meters: They are also known as dial or mechanical meters. They consist of five to six circular discs with rotating pointers. The discs have scales calibrated for zero to nine. You should take the reading of all the discs from right to left. Each dual displays the number of kilowatt-hours used to different decimal points. In other words, one unit on the rightmost dial represents 1 kilowatt-hour while one unit on the fourth dial from the right represents 0.001 kilowatt-hours. You should add the readings from all the dials.

Digital meter: These meters display the number of kilowatt-hours you have used on a digital screen. They are much easier to read than standard meters.

Smart meter: This is the latest meter in the industry. Besides displaying the total number of units consumed, it gives a breakdown of the usage. For example, it can tell you the amount of electricity your home heating system consumed. Further, smart meters can send data to and from the electricity company. This means the electricity company will neither send someone to read your meter nor bill you on estimates.

Understanding your electric bill

Your electric bill can also give you information on your electricity usage. But don’t just take the total charge and divide it by the cost per unit. First, you need to understand how the electricity company bills you. If you are on a monthly billing plan, the electricity company will charge you the number of units used in a particular month. If you are on a monthly budget billing plan, the electricity company uses the previous year's total charge to estimate the current year's consumption. The estimate is then spread over 12 months.

Again, electric bills are complicated, and looking at the total charge cannot give you a true insight into your electricity usage. The total bill includes taxes and the cost of running the electricity company. Further, some companies do not have a standard charge per unit. You might find that the charge per kilowatt-hour for the first 100 units is lower than the cost for units above 100. You'll, therefore, need to understand all items listed on the electricity bill and do the necessary calculations.

Reducing your energy costs begins with understanding your electricity usage. You can obtain electricity usage information from your electricity bills, electric meters, or by checking the wattage ratings on your electric equipment. You can use more than one of the above sources to increase accuracy.