Electricity Cost Calculator- How It Works?
Would you be interested in knowing approximately how much you’ll pay for the electricity supply in the coming month? Of course, you would! One of the drawbacks of electricity use is it can be hard to budget for bills because of the number of changes from one month to the next. And depending on the type of payment structure you have on your electric plan, it could vary significantly.
You could go through the tedious task of looking up how much energy each appliance, device, system, and lightbulb uses in your house. After that, you’d need to determine how much you use each one of those items to calculate a rough estimate of whole-home energy use.
Or you could simplify things and just use an electricity cost calculator. This guide will help you understand how electricity cost calculators work and what you can do with them.
How an Electricity Cost Calculator Works
An electricity cost calculator is pretty straightforward, but it cuts down on a lot of the work needed to estimate energy expenses. With some electricity calculators, all you have to do is select the items you want to include in the estimate and the calculator will start crunching the numbers. Most calculators are less detailed and rely on an estimate of total power consumption rather than adding up energy use from each item in the home.
There are three metrics that are needed to estimate electricity costs with a calculator:
Power Consumption – How much energy devices, appliances, and electronics use. Some calculators can help you by providing a range based on average power consumption, but usually, it’s a single amount for total overall power consumption.
Energy Price – How much you pay per kilowatt-hour (kWh). You can find this on your electric bill.
Usage Time – How many hours each device, appliance, etc. are used. For the most accurate estimate, look for a calculator that allows you to specify the usage time for each individual item rather than how many hours day electricity is consumed in general. You can also use a calculator to look up the electricity cost for individual items that are only used a small portion of the day to get a more accurate estimate.
One of the biggest benefits of using an electricity cost calculator is having the ability to change the calculation with a few clicks. You can:
- Change the time period to look at electricity costs by day, month, or year.
- Change kilowatts to kilowatt-hour units and vice versa.
- Use your total power consumption for a time period instead of breaking it down by each appliance or electronic device.
INSIDER TIP: No idea how much energy you use on a regular basis? Check out your latest electricity bill or login to your account online to get a better idea of how much energy is consumed at your home monthly and annually.
Using an Advanced Electricity Monitor as a Calculator
Not finding an electricity cost calculator that’s as detailed as you want? If you really want to dive deep into electricity use and estimating costs, then it’s time to look into a home energy monitoring system.
You can use an advanced monitor like a Curb that connects to your electrical panel and reads the usage of various appliances, lights, and electronics in real-time. You’ll get a detailed breakdown of energy use so you can see what items are drawing the most power, trends in how electricity is used, and see if there are energy vampires that can be eliminated.
A home energy monitoring system can help you spend less on electricity, but it requires an upfront investment. Systems usually cost a few hundred dollars and you may need to hire an electrician to install the monitor.
Other Uses for an Electricity Cost Calculator
Estimating how much you’ll pay each month for electricity isn’t the only thing an electricity cost calculator can do. It can also:
- Help you estimate how much energy-efficiency improvements will reduce costs.
- Determine how much you can save if you reduce energy use by a specific amount.
- See how big a difference a lower rate per kilowatt-hour makes.
- Compare the cost of your current energy plan to plans from other electricity providers.
Ready to see if a plan from Spark Energy can reduce your energy costs? We provide a variety of fixed-rate plans that can help make your electricity bills more predictable. All you need to provide is some basic information to find available electricity plans in your area.
