Monitoring Energy Consumption

This post is a follow up to the one I penned on June 27th 2014 when I talked about gas and electricity bills. I suggest you go back and read this previous post before the one which I have published below.

In the post of the 27th. I mentioned two important types of figure which are shown on all energy bills. It is absolutely essential that everyone who purchases gas and electricity from the major sources should clearly understand their significance. They are:-

• The units used up to the bill end date.
• The cost per unit.

The energy companies all use the kilowatt-hour as their energy unit for both electricity and gas. Electricity meters are naturally calibrated directly in kilowatt-hours so these figures are transferred directly on to bills but gas meters are calibrated in cubic metres. Not to worry for the conversion to kilowatt-hours is done on the bill and as long as the meter reading is correct, little can go wrong.

Although we are living in an increasingly digital world where software renders many activities automatic it's as well to remember that at certain stages human input is necessary and humans can always make mistakes. Robots have to be programmed by humans at some stage so it's not surprising that meter readers are not infallible.

Regular monitoring of electricity and gas meters can provide essential data should arguments ever arise between householders and energy supply companies. I take readings on the first day of the month and log them down in a suitable manner. It is then just a matter of comparing my figures with those on the bill.

Even if a meter reader calls round to a property there is no guarantee that his figures will get on the bill which the householder receives. Often the figures are ESTIMATED and not ACTUAL values. If an estimated figure is too low when compared with the householder's actual figure he may think that he's better off  and there could be a rude awakening at a later date!

The second figure on a bill which should always be checked is the unit price. I personally like to go for longer term price fixes so that the figure is always in my mind. The check then involves little more than a cursory glance. For others the price might be more volatile and dependent on prevailing market conditions, could fluctuate quickly.

Going back to logging meter readings, it can also have beneficial extras. Energy consumption for a lot of people is fairly constant (I'm talking in terms of units used...NOT price) so conscious attempts at exercising economies can therefore be monitored.

Also, if changes are made to an installation such as a new gas boiler or cavity wall insulation, changes in energy consumption will reflect the new conditions.

Well, I've given my version of gas and electricity monitoring/logging so I can only hope that you will find it useful but I will conclude by saying that if you have never done so to date, get hold of a recent bill and study it's contents closely.