Are you the type that gets your utility bills and pays them without really checking what’s going on? This is never a good practice to get into, since you might be paying much more than you have to. To help you save on your utility bills, it’s always a good idea to understand what’s going on behind the scenes to reach the number that you end up paying. Your utility bills include your water, electricity, and gas. Here are some technical concepts that you need to understand when examining your utility bills.
Water Bills
Your water bill is determined by how much water you use over the billing period. Most water utilities measure the centum cubic feet (CCF) or hundred cubic feet (HCF). The more you use, the higher your bill will be. As you use water in your home, an automatic water meter will count how much you use. Depending on where you live, you may be able to get close to real time usage through your water provider.
The water is measured as it enters the home, which means that you will pay for any water that comes in, whether you use it or not. If there is a plumbing leak, then that will affect your bill, even if the water isn’t making it to any faucets or fixtures. This is one big reason why paying attention to your bills is so important. If you see that your bill is suddenly very high, then it could be a sign that you have a leak. This means that you will not only be paying more than you should, but that you could be at risk of water damage inside your home.
Your utility may also provide you with the average use of the homes in your neighbourhood. If you are on the high side, then you know that there are most likely some steps that you can take to conserve water.
Electricity Bills
Much like with your water, your electric meter measures the amount of power that you use. These measurements are taken in watts. A watt is what you get when you combine the voltage and the current of an electric circuit. A single watt is equal to a single volt multiplied by a single amp. However to measure your usage, a meter has to also consider a time frame to get an accurate measurement. Therefore, your electric meter will measure your usage in kilowatt hours. A kilowatt is 1000 watts of electricity used in 60 minutes. An example would be if you used 100 watts over a 24-hour period of time. The calculator would be 100 multiplied by 24 hours, which equals 2400 watt hours, or 2.44 kilowatt hours.
You can use your electricity bill to determine how much electricity you are using during the billing period. You may notice that your consumption rises during months when you are running your HVAC system consistently, but if you have an unexplained sharp increase, then there is probably a certain behavior that has caused it. If your bill gets too high for your liking, then you could consider switching to solar power, which will drastically limit your electric bills.
Natural Gas
Your natural gas usage is measured in cubic feet of gas used. As the gas goes through the pipes, it puts pressure on the meter. The more gas you use, the more pressure there is on the meter, and the higher it’s numbers go. Older gas meters have several dials on the front measuring different types of pressure. To get your reading, you have to take down the digits that each dial is pointing to. When the first dial completes a revolution, the second one moves up one digit. Then, when the second one has completely one revolution, the third one moves up, and so on. Most meters have four dials on the front.
The gas that you use is also measured by the temperature at which it is when passing through the meter. This is usually based on 60 degrees Fahrenheit. So your final measurement will be a certain number of cubic feet at 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Much like water, if your gas bill goes up and you haven’t made any behavioral changes, then you might have a problem. There may be a leak, or it could be that you are consistently leaving a fixture on, such as your barbecue. This can not just cost you more money, but also be very dangerous.
Now that you know how your utility bills are calculated, you can understand what you are looking at when you receive them. Make sure to look them over so that you can pay the lowest amount possible by conserving your usage.