How To Calculate Your Electricity Bill? A Step-by-Step Guide
Paying a recurring electric bill is something most people don’t like to think about. It can feel like a hassle, especially when the price changes from one month to the next. The cost of utilities has continued to rise throughout the last year, and that means people are constantly having to readjust their monthly budgeting to cover the expense. This guide will give you an overview of how much electric utilities cost every month.
If you’re able to understand how your electricity bill is calculated month-to-month you will be able to find areas where you can save and reduce your usage. Knowing when and where to reduce your energy usage can help you save money during the hot summer and cold winter seasons.
Your monthly electricity bill takes into account how much electricity you use to power your appliances and electronic devices. Taking a few extra minutes every month to see where you can reduce energy could save you a considerable amount of money throughout the year.
Two Ways to Calculate Your Electricity Bill:
1. The Traditional Way: Manually calculating energy usage
Before we were able to track energy usage with modern-day devices, many people relied on the older way of calculating how much power they used. The older way involves using arithmetic to figure out how much energy you are consuming.
Your home’s electricity is measured in units known as kilowatt-hours (kWh), and your monthly bill is calculated by multiplying the cost of a kWh by total number of kWh.
- Find the wattage of each of your electric appliances and estimate your monthly hourly usage of each one.
- Convert watts into kilowatts. There are 1,000 watts in one kilowatt.
- Figure out the kilowatt usage of each appliance.
- Estimate the cost by multiplying the kilowatts per month by your electric rate.
- Add the monthly consumption of ALL your appliances together to find your total electricity usage.
Taking time to calculate your bill through adding and multiplying is the old-fashioned way of doing things. The downside of using this step is that you will find an estimated amount to your monthly electricity bill, but it may not be the exact amount. In order to find an exact estimation of your monthly bill, it’s best to use a more modern approach.
2. The Modern Way: Automatically tracking your energy usage
Today, you can automatically calculate your energy usage with smart devices. Besides looking back at past electric bills, energy trackers and smart devices can help you budget ahead of time. They’ll give you an EXACT sum of your monthly electricity bills so you don’t have to guess.
Here is how it works:
- Official App or Dashboard Provided by Your Electricity Provider
- Check with your local utility company to see if they provide an official app that tracks your energy usage. Or, log into your account on their website and see if there’s an energy-tracking dashboard you can view in your browser.
- If you’re an EPB Energy customer, you can download the free MyEPB app for Android or iOS devices. Use the app to track your home’s energy usage historically and in real-time, pay EPB Energy and EPB Fiber Optics bills, get app notifications for outage updates, bill alerts and usage spikes and more!
- EPB Energy customers can also track your energy usage by visiting epb.com and logging into your account portal.
- Smart Plugs
- Smart plugs are small Wi-Fi-enabled power adapters that plug into a wall outlet and control the flow of electricity to connected devices. Most Smart Plugs allow you to use an app on your phone or tablet to remain in control.
- They can help monitor your electric usage, you can plug in a lamp, fan or any other wired appliance. An accompanying app with the technology will put you into the driver’s seat of your experience because you will have full control from wherever you are.
- They’ll also let you set schedules and remotely turn off power to any device plugged into the outlet. That way, you can put things like lamps or sound machines on a timer so they’re not using power around the clock. This can add up to significant energy savings — plus, it saves you the hassle of having to remember to turn it off manually.
- Home Energy Monitoring Technology (Like Curb, Sense, and Neurio)
- A home energy monitor tracks the electricity use in your home or building. It gives you the ability to see how much energy each appliance is using.
- There are different energy monitors available for purchasing. Three companies that offer different home monitoring technology are Curb, Sense and Neurio. Each one takes a different approach to reporting your home energy usage.
- Prices will vary depending on the product you choose, so it’s best to go with the option that best fits within your budget. The article ‘Best Home Energy Monitors in 2023’ can help you compare pricing and home monitoring products to find the best fit for your home.
These tools come at a price, but they’ll give you an accurate estimate of your monthly energy consumption and bills.
Why is it important to keep track of your monthly electricity bills?
Tracking your power usage can help you determine what appliances or electronics are having the biggest impact on your monthly electricity bill. Seeing how much money you may be spending on your energy habits may prompt you to make energy-saving changes. Monitoring your monthly habits is simple and effective. Overlooking your monthly power bill could cost you several hundred dollars annually if you are not looking over your bill thoroughly, so keeping an eye on your monthly electricity bills is VERY IMPORTANT.
If you’re an EPB Energy customer, the best way to stay ahead and monitor your energy use is by downloading the free MyEPB app. The app gives you insights into your monthly electricity bill, real-time energy usage updates and much more. You can download it for free inside your app store, Apple Store: MyEPB App and Google Store: MyEPB App. You can also schedule a free EPB Home Energy CheckupSM to get expert energy-saving advice for your home.
