kwh per month logging. - Page 2

Ryland · 05-06-09, 12:09 AM

As I see it, it should be kept simple or nothing will happen.
Yes make a space for notes on the number of people, size of house, if you have PV or wind and maybe another line for natural gas or LP as well, but any other figures we need to figure out we can figure out on our own, or at a later date, but my main idea is that if we can look at "joe bob" over there and see that their bill is super low, check out the number of people i his house and his notes on what he is running and how it got that way, then everyone can get more ideas on how to do better.

Daox · 05-06-09, 07:18 AM

That is probably the way we'll end up going just to get something up on the site initially. This reminds me I have to bug Darin about this.

Sandcruiser · 05-06-09, 06:58 PM

always better to start simple and get it done. "Better" isn't better at all unless something already exists.

Thalass · 05-22-09, 08:21 AM

I've been tracking the power meter readings at my mum's house for the last 10 months or so, while my house is being built. So I can have a baseline to work against when we move in.

Looking at the spreadsheet now, it looks like an average of 0.92kWh per hour, or 22.15kWh per day. I can attach the spreadsheet if people want to use it - it tells me the cost and a bunch of averages and stuff. There was a gap of 3 months in there, though, so I lost the daily trend I was trying to get. But recently I've been a bit better.
Of course my house will be much smaller than mum's, so hopefully it'll be easier to keep the usage down.

Last week I tried an experiment where I turned almost everything off (the fridges, my laptop, and a radio were left on) and left the house for a couple of hours. That cost $0.05 per hour, and used 0.337kWh per hour. Then I came home and turned everything on. That cost $0.30 per hour and used 1.959kWh per hour! (I suspect most of that was the airconditioning.)

Anyway, it is a bit of a pain to have to go outside to take a photo of the meter (I use the timestamp to get the exact time between readings), so I'm looking into something like a kill-a-watt for my house. Perhaps something like the MPGuino? It would be useful for electric cars, too.

groar · 05-22-09, 02:51 PM

peak hours and off peak hours should be easy, as the addition of unit cost for each and subscription part.

For the CO2, at least an average should be known, but to be more precise, the averages for :

seasons : renewable energies are more used in summer (*)
and use of the electricity : the constant consumption is feeded by hydro () and nuclear () which generate less CO2, while heating is feeded by coal which generate more CO2.

(*) my provider broadcasts their monthly CO2 generation per kWh regularly.
All that to say that CO2 support may be complicated.

On my spreadsheet I record for each month :

Average off Peak kWh per day
Average peak kWh per day
Average cost per day (without subscription)
Average cost per kWh (without subscription)
and % of in/de-crease for these 4 with last month.

Denis.

Piwoslaw · 05-29-09, 02:27 AM

Very good idea. I recorded the states of the electric, water and gas meters every day between 2000-2006, when still living in my Grandma's house. Unfortunately, after moving out she didn't continue.

After moving in with my Wife, I started recording the electric meter, now I have one year of data. The gas meter is in box out in the street, and only recently have I found a way to open it. One day I'd like to ask Dad-in-law where the bi-monthly gas bills from the previous years are stowed, this should give me an idea as to how much gas is needed for winter and summer. The water meter is in the basement, not too easy to get to, so I only check it every 10-15 days for the last half year.

When still at Grandma's, with 5 years of data, I entered everything into a spreadsheet, for every month I had total, average per day, max day and min day values. Those 4 were input into a month by month spreadsheet, calculated the multiyear average for each month, comparing each month's total to the multiyear average, etc.

Piwoslaw · 02-26-10, 07:01 AM

Bumping this thread.
When reading about passive buildings I noticed that the units used to measure heating needs are kWh/m2/year. Of course, the same house will need less/more in a different location, but I think it's a good unit to add to this discussion.

05-06-09, 12:09 AM	#11 (permalink)
Ryland Apprentice EcoRenovator Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 196	As I see it, it should be kept simple or nothing will happen. Yes make a space for notes on the number of people, size of house, if you have PV or wind and maybe another line for natural gas or LP as well, but any other figures we need to figure out we can figure out on our own, or at a later date, but my main idea is that if we can look at "joe bob" over there and see that their bill is super low, check out the number of people i his house and his notes on what he is running and how it got that way, then everyone can get more ideas on how to do better. (Support EcoRenovator.org & get rid of these annoying ads!)

05-22-09, 02:51 PM	#15 (permalink)
groar X-Frenchy: very Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Toulouse, France Posts: 153	peak hours and off peak hours should be easy, as the addition of unit cost for each and subscription part. For the CO2, at least an average should be known, but to be more precise, the averages for : seasons : renewable energies are more used in summer () and use of the electricity : the constant consumption is feeded by hydro () and nuclear () which generate less CO2, while heating is feeded by coal which generate more CO2. () my provider broadcasts their monthly CO2 generation per kWh regularly. All that to say that CO2 support may be complicated. On my spreadsheet I record for each month : Average off Peak kWh per day Average peak kWh per day Average cost per day (without subscription) Average cost per kWh (without subscription) and % of in/de-crease for these 4 with last month. Denis. __________________ Earth absorbs 1.8 t CO2/head/yr, while a French generates 6.2 t CO2/yr To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. kg saved 06/08-08/09: 1816.9+382.9 (ecodriving / 1420mi not driven) = 2199.8 To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. (2.66 kg/l diesel) kg saved by 3kWc photo-voltaic solar panels : 187 kg/yr To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. (59.1 g/kWh) Radioactive wastes saved by 3kWc photo-voltaic solar panels : Long life (>100,000 years) : 2.85 g/yr (0.9 mg/kWh) Short life (<300 years) : 31.7 g/yr (10.0 mg/kWh) Based upon "official" French figures...

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05-06-09, 07:18 AM	#12 (permalink)
Daox Administrator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Germantown, WI Posts: 1,233	That is probably the way we'll end up going just to get something up on the site initially. This reminds me I have to bug Darin about this.

05-06-09, 06:58 PM	#13 (permalink)
Sandcruiser Helper EcoRenovator Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 32	always better to start simple and get it done. "Better" isn't better at all unless something already exists.

05-22-09, 08:21 AM	#14 (permalink)
Thalass Lurking Renovator Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 5	I've been tracking the power meter readings at my mum's house for the last 10 months or so, while my house is being built. So I can have a baseline to work against when we move in. Looking at the spreadsheet now, it looks like an average of 0.92kWh per hour, or 22.15kWh per day. I can attach the spreadsheet if people want to use it - it tells me the cost and a bunch of averages and stuff. There was a gap of 3 months in there, though, so I lost the daily trend I was trying to get. But recently I've been a bit better. Of course my house will be much smaller than mum's, so hopefully it'll be easier to keep the usage down. Last week I tried an experiment where I turned almost everything off (the fridges, my laptop, and a radio were left on) and left the house for a couple of hours. That cost $0.05 per hour, and used 0.337kWh per hour. Then I came home and turned everything on. That cost $0.30 per hour and used 1.959kWh per hour! (I suspect most of that was the airconditioning.) Anyway, it is a bit of a pain to have to go outside to take a photo of the meter (I use the timestamp to get the exact time between readings), so I'm looking into something like a kill-a-watt for my house. Perhaps something like the MPGuino? It would be useful for electric cars, too.

05-29-09, 02:27 AM	#16 (permalink)
Piwoslaw Spin be backwards, please Join Date: May 2009 Location: Warsaw, Poland Posts: 124	Very good idea. I recorded the states of the electric, water and gas meters every day between 2000-2006, when still living in my Grandma's house. Unfortunately, after moving out she didn't continue. After moving in with my Wife, I started recording the electric meter, now I have one year of data. The gas meter is in box out in the street, and only recently have I found a way to open it. One day I'd like to ask Dad-in-law where the bi-monthly gas bills from the previous years are stowed, this should give me an idea as to how much gas is needed for winter and summer. The water meter is in the basement, not too easy to get to, so I only check it every 10-15 days for the last half year. When still at Grandma's, with 5 years of data, I entered everything into a spreadsheet, for every month I had total, average per day, max day and min day values. Those 4 were input into a month by month spreadsheet, calculated the multiyear average for each month, comparing each month's total to the multiyear average, etc.

02-26-10, 07:01 AM	#17 (permalink)
Piwoslaw Spin be backwards, please Join Date: May 2009 Location: Warsaw, Poland Posts: 124	Bumping this thread. When reading about passive buildings I noticed that the units used to measure heating needs are kWh/m2/year. Of course, the same house will need less/more in a different location, but I think it's a good unit to add to this discussion.