Guess what I’m talking about, my energy bill!

Can you imagine living without electricity?  I can’t.  It powers my alarm clock to which I wake up in the morning, makes my shower water hot before I go to bed and everything in between.  Electricity, you are my savior!  But it doesn’t come cheap, every month energy company sends me a bill for the luxury of having electricity.  For some people the bill amount is surprising, for others it’s expected.  But wouldn’t it be nicer to understand how this figure gets to be, so you can have a better control over your energy bill?

Understanding Your Electric Bill
First, how is energy produced?  Here in the US about 70% of electricity is produced by burning fossil fuels, mainly coal.  Gasoline is used as a fuel to burn the coal at a steam generating plant.  Steam is then converted to electricity by a turbine generator.  This Wikipedia link explains this in a lot more detail if you are interested http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_fuel_power_plant.
Electricity usage is accounted in kilowatt-hours.  Each residence has a counter showing how much total electricity it used.  Electric company representative takes counter reading on a monthly basis.  The difference between the two consecutive readings is the total electricity used for the month.  The energy units appearing on the counter are kilowatt-hours (KWHRs), which is the same units that appear on your electric bill.  To help you understand, one kilowatt-hour of energy will raise 3413 pounds (or 410 gallons) of water by one degree Fahrenheit.
Some companies have programs where they will give you credit, if you reduce your power usage during pick times of the day.  Pick times of energy use are usually during the day, picking right around noon.  The energy company will send someone to evaluate your house and install timers on the high energy consuming appliances, like the water heater.  Talk to your energy company’s representative to see if they have such programs and if it would work for you.

What is Electricity Used For?
All appliances in your house require electricity to operate.  Which appliances take a lot of it and vice versa?  Any appliance that has to do with heating or cooling of space or water is a high-energy load appliance.  This includes the air conditioner, the water heater, the clothes dryer, the oven, the hair dryer, etc.  Lighting can be a significant part of the bill depending on what kind and how much of it is being used.  Thankfully there are ways to save electricity by knowing where it goes and how much, so you can have a better control of your energy bill!

Check out my next post Estimate Cost of Running Your Household Appliance