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Energy Monitor vs Electric Bill: FIRST MONTH

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Energy Monitor vs Electric Bill: FIRST MONTH

When I deeply engage in studying a subject, I often recall a quote by Denzel Washington. He once said, “Explain it to me as if I were a two-year-old.” This quote is important because it shows that simplifying complex ideas helps us understand them better.  Click here to watch Denzel’s video clip on youtube.   

I look at recurring bills like electric and cable to gather useful data form making good choices. 

So here we go… what did my first month of monitoring tell us? 

In a US home the internet says the top 5 uses are 1) AC/Heating, 46% 2) Water Heating, 14%, Appliances 13%, Lighting, 9%, TV/Media Equipment 4%.  (I’m on natural gas for AC/Heat, Stove, Oven)  (Source site: Perch Energy)

In case you want more background information, here’s a link back to my post titled “My Frugal Home: Energy Monitor vs Electric Bill“.

Otherwise, let’s get onto the data in the next section.

SPREADSHEET: Energy Monitor vs Electric Bill

At the top of the spreadsheet image below is a breakdown of my Electric Bill. To enlarge the data you may want to open the image in a new tab.

The data from Row 51 onwards is the export from my Emporia Smart Home Energy Monitor with 16 ports. I matched up the dates in the data export with the electric bill. I focused only on the first FULL month from 10/30 to 11/29. 

Here is what the colors mean:

  • Yellow Highlighting = the data I typed in from my PPL electric bill
  • Blue Highlighting = Top 6.. explained below.
  • Green Highlighting = Bottom 6.. explained below.

Electric Bill

Electric Bill 20231030 to 1129

Energy Monitor

Energy Monitor Data

CONCLUSIONS FIRST: 

Now that you’ve spent some time on the data details for “Energy Monitor vs Electric Bill” let’s spend some time to ADMIRE.  What can I learn or do?

My KWH rate: With some work our electric bill shows that we paid $.17278/KWH this month.  Getting that great rate from INSPIRE energy at $.10490 wasn’t the whole story!  They are the Supplier portion of the bill, I had to add PPL for Delivery charges and some OTHER charges.  BUT NOW I KNOW MY TRUE per KWH RATE!!  (Check your bill and know yours!)

Great News:  The Energy Monitor measurements from the 2 Mains match my electric bill almost exactly. 823 vs 818.  Total Bill: $141.33 (818x$.17278) Thank you Emporia, it’s working as advertised!!!

 Monitoring Improvement Required: The 16 circuits that I chose to monitor captured 61% of energy use, 501.021 KWH ($86.56). Meaning 39% went unmeasured, 322.3286 KWH( $55.69) . 

I have to find the remaining 39%.  To do this, I have to move the measuring device. Specifically, I need to move it from the things that use less energy or I need to move it to the circuits that I am not currently measuring.

My panel has 32 wires to measure. I plan to move off of the “Bottom 6” shown circuits below.

My Basement (SubPanel): Winter is here, but even so I was not expecting this to be this high.  I keep the living area of the basement at 68 degrees F with an electric wall-split unit.  Looks like I could play with decreasing the temperature or maybe have it sleep when not in use.  

Water Heater:  As everyone predicted… this was high… I will definitely deep dive on this one at a later date!  Perhaps tankless or hybrid are in our future.

Living Room:  BIG SURPRISE!!! I happened to put one of my four SmartPlugs here given it’s our TV area. I can see that 50% of the living room use is coming from our TV related electronics.

I will need to do another deep dive here, but at least for now I know that this is a $10.45/month issue. I did take a few immediate steps:

  • I forget the last time I used a DVD… so I unplugged it and will plug it in when I need it.
  • Apple TV is now available as an APP on my Smart TV… so I unplugged it.
  • I took the SMARTPLUGS from the HIS/HER computers and put them into the living room to see if I can break this down a little more next month.
  • SMARTPLUG NOTE: I look at the “DAILY” use of “HER Computer Setup” and saw that it used .017KWH/day * 30 days = .51KWH/month x $.17278KWH or $.08/month. 
  • Unplugging these 2 items won’t save a lot.
  • I’m working to see if all this adds to much over a month or year. (mini-deep dive) 

Dryer, Kitchen Refrigerator, Washer:  Also as everyone predicted.  It is interesting to note that the infrequent use of our Dryer & Washer take as much energy as a full month of the refrigerator.

HIS Computer Setup: In my upstairs office I put a SMARTPLUG on the extension cord that powers my computer devices.  It measures 14.31.64KWH x $.17278/KWH = $7.95 per moth.  

I always wondered what this costs and I plan to do a mini-deep dive.  Like most working professionals I have to have my computer!! 

BUT… I will be more vigilant about turning off my surge protector at the end of my work. 

I use a laptop with the lid shut at home.  Externally I use 2 27″ Monitors, Logitech Keyboard/Mouse/WebCam.  My laptop’s battery will keep some things on standby, but it will stop other things from using too much energy. At least now I know it’s an $8/month issue.

Next are the details on the Top and Bottom electric circuits in our circuit panel.

KWH DETAILS:     (Top 6 and Bottom 6)

The KWH highest 6 in decending order were:

    •  216.4875 SubPanel 1+2 – Our basement which has:
      • Large Screen OLED TV – I had this on a SmargPlug 5.4693 KWH
      • An old fridge – I just move a SmartPlug on this
      • Wall Heater/AC Unit and winter has arrived!!
    • 92.6038 Water Heater
    • 60.4839 Main Living Area – Big Surprise!
      • 29.7473 SMARTPLUG on the outlet with the electronics:
        • OLED TV + Soundbar + DVD player + Apple TV
        • Verizon Wireless Extender
        • Blink Camera Sync Module
        • Window Blinds WIFI gateway
      • Ceiling Fan, Gas Fire Place with Blower
      • Back Porch?
    • 32.9733 Dryer (Clothing)
    • 31.7323 Kitchen Refrigerator
    • 25.0261 Washer (Clothing)
    • TOTAL of these 6 = 459.3069 KWH * $.17278/KWH = $79.36/month
    • Good to know… these look like the big fish…but I’m missing 31% so can’t be positive yet.

The KWH lowest 6 in ascending order were:

    • .0182 Something labeled Furnace – I have a gas furnace
    •  4.8247 Kitchen Island Outlets and Garbage Disposal
    • 4.8589 Dishwasher (Ours was recently replaced with a Bosch 800!)
    • 4.9668 Kitchen Outlets Walls (includes our Kuerig & air fryer/toaster)
    • 9.7107 Dining Room lights and Microwave
    • 17.3348 Office/Foyer/Hall
      • SMARTPLUG on HER Office Computer Setup = 2.3763
    • TOTAL of these 6 = 47.7141 KWH * $.17278/KWH = $7.21/month
    • Good to know… not the big fish.
Monitored Circuit Breaker Box Closed
Monitored Circuit Breaker Box - Open

CLOSING THOUGHTS:  Energy Monitor vs Electric Bill: FIRST MONTH

  • MEASURE TWICE, CUT ONCE, ADMIRE YOUR WORK:  I hit all 3 on this one!!  More “MEASURE” required, did some small “CUTs” and I enjoyed A”DMIRING” the output resulting from this FIRST FULL MONTH of measuring.

  • WHEN WILL I COVER THE COST OF MY ENERGY MONITOR? The question remains. I plan to let you know how long will it take to recover my $200 investment in Energy Monitoring devices.  Frugal?  You bet!  Another future deep dive!

  • SO WHY AM I SPENDING MY TIME ON THIS?  With a $141.33 electric bill is was important to remind myself…  My answer came when I reviewed my goals. 

    • I’d really like to know the fundamental math, MEASURE, to see what’s possible to reduce my recurring energy bills.  

    • Could solar panels turn my electric bills into income? 

    • At what point do I switch something from gas to electric if I do add solar panels?

    • In short, when I retire… I’d like to maximize my spend! 

    • Plus remember… if you’re the family helpdesk and handyman we’ve got others depending on us to know these things!!  and as my friend says… we enjoy fixing sh*t!

P.S.  Time to shutdown my laptop and then turn off my surge protector!! 🙂