First things first, when you get your electricity bill in the mail, do you know how to read it? It is important that you understand your bill and then take a dive into what is making it so high.
How to Read Your Electric Bill
- Make sure you know what billing plan you are on. Are you being charged for your monthly usage? Are you on a budget billing plan? If you’re charged monthly for your usage, you’ll receive a bill every cycle charging you for the number of kilowatt hours your household used that month. If you’re on a monthly budget billing plan, your utility takes the number of kilowatt hours you consumed last year, assumes that you’ll use around the same this year, and creates a monthly average for you to pay. This is especially important when talking about your air conditioner. If you are on a budget billing plan, you could see a lower bill in the summer than neighbors on the monthly usage plan even if you are running your air conditioner a lot. However, in the winter months, you will have a higher bill than your neighbors.
- Know what bill you are looking at. This may seem like a simple one but you do not want to mix up your electric and water bill. Electricity is measured in kilowatt hours while a water bill is measured in gallons, and gas is measured in BTUs.
- Know where the total amount comes from. There are lots of charges that make up your power bill but you are not only paying for the electricity you use, you are also paying for the employees at the utility company.
- Know how many hours of power you use a month. Most of the time the bill will break out your daily use. Make sure you are reading your bill correctly and do not confuse your daily rate and monthly rate.
- Total up your cost for electricity for the month.
You can learn more about the correct way to read your electric bill and see examples of bills at EnergySave.com.
Source: EnergySave.com
Why is My Power Bill Double?
There are many reasons to see a spike in your power bill including:
- Leaving your appliances plugged in while you are gone.
- Not turning your lights or television off when you are not using them.
- Leaving your ceiling fan on all the time.
- Using old appliances.
- Not using energy efficient appliances and light bulbs.
- Lastly, your air conditioning unit or heater may be running too often or your home may not be properly insulated. This is where we can help!
Heating and Cooling Using All Your Energy?
In most cases, half of your electric bill costs come from your heating and cooling expenses. You could be seeing high numbers in this department for a number of reasons. Is your home well insulated? If not, all of the “bought-air” could be escaping through windows, doors, or the attic. Is your HVAC unit running all the time? Check out our post on why this could be happening. In warmer months you should make sure you are taking the proper steps to keep your home comfortable without spending more than you have to. Check out our Tower Tips on low costs way to stay cool in the summer. Lastly, make sure you are signed up for our Maintenance Plan. With our Maintenace Plan, you get two cleaning visits, discounts on parts and labor, and more. It is the best way to ensure you are keeping your system running smoothly to keep your energy bill down in that department.
If you have more questions about why your power bill is so high, we would love to help you out, give us a call at 919-755-1957.