Why Is My Electric Bill So High?

Energy monitors tap into your home’s electrical panel to actively monitor and listen to how energy is used within the home. The primary goal being these devices is to entice you to take action on reducing vulnerable power uses. Some homeowners use the devices to continuously and proactively monitor their energy use. Others use them to conduct an assessment of current consumption to reduce the time it takes to identify culprits or potential opportunities for changes that would lower energy demand. Other energy monitors focus on energy production, rather than energy use - by hooking into the home’s solar, wind, or micro-hydro production.

Why is Energy Monitoring Important?

Energy monitoring has gained popularity, especially within the last decade, thanks to the steady increase in energy costs. Energy utilities also need to reduce peak loads, increase adoption of solar and energy efficiency within homes. Monitoring your home’s energy use is a great way to become aware of where and when energy is used in your home. It is also a great way to determine how to focus your home improvement dollars.

Why Is My Electric Bill So High?

This is a question that many homeowners ask themselves. Rather than make assumptions on why your home’s electricity use is so high, home energy monitors are a great way to find that out with pretty close certainty. It’s also a great way to spot phantom power - where certain electricity is used unknowingly (or even when off) by specific appliances or devices.

What is a home energy monitor?

Energy monitoring systems can help homeowners monitor energy consumption of specific rooms or whole home, water consumption, solar energy production, room temperatures, and thermostat setpoints. It's important to review your requirements and ensure that the energy monitoring device you choose meets your needs.

How can I monitor electricity usage?

The best way to monitor home electricity usage is by installing an energy home monitoring device. Monitor devices can be as basic as monitoring consumption from one outlet to devices that monitor whole home usage. These monitoring devices provide a mobile or web based application complete with dashboard that communicate energy usage.

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Energy monitoring systems can monitor a variety of things, like electricity consumption, water consumption, solar electricity production, room temperatures, and thermostat setpoints.

Many new Apps are now entering the market that can analyze the monitored data to show you how and when you use energy.

Electricity monitoring devices are the most common. Simple monitors are available that track the electricity used from one plug. Others include a clamp that is attached to your electricity meter or mains to monitor electricity consumed in an entire house, or via your electrical panel’s circuits.

Because there are so many different types of energy monitoring systems available, look for a system that will work for your needs. Some things to think about are:

What do you want to monitor (electricity, water, solar energy, etc.)?
How often do you want to take a measurement (frequency)? As an example, if you want to know how much electricity your toaster uses and it runs for 1 minute at a time, you will want to take a few measurements per minute.
How accurate do you need the system to be? Highly accurate devices can come at a higher cost, and some systems are do-it-yourself while others require an electrician.
What kind of app comes with the system? Some systems will automatically process and analyze the data to provide you with useful information. Also, how accessible is the app - some only run on mobile and not web, or vice-versa.
Installation requirements are also something worth noting - the homeowner can install some monitors, and others require an electrician.

By showing you how much energy you use, energy monitoring systems can help you reduce your energy consumption. As well, they can help you make other, larger energy related decisions. For example, data collected from an energy monitoring system may help you decide between a solar hot water heating system or a solar photovoltaic system.