When you get your electricity bill every month, do you pay it blindly or examine it closely? Even if you do pay attention to everything written on the statement (which most of us don’t), you are still missing out on key information.

Here are three things your utility bill doesn’t tell you:

 

  • Peak hours. Peak hours are the period of time when energy demand is at its highest in a particular city or region. Most energy suppliers will charge you more for the electricity you use during this timeframe. If you don’t pay attention to these hours of peak demand, you could be paying up to 30% more on your utility bill each month.

 

  • Base load. Your base load is the amount of energy your facility consumes when it is not in use. This is the first place that energy managers should look for wasted energy. Under ideal conditions, your base load should be very low, with the majority of energy being used on security lights or other equipment required to run around-the-clock. However, many facilities are surprised when they find out their base load is much higher than they expected. This difference between expected base load and actual base load is wasted energy. Unfortunately, utility bills do not allow you to calculate your base load.

 

  • Real-time insights. The biggest problem with utility bills is that you only get them once per month. When you have thirty days worth of data lumped together into one number, it is nearly impossible to identify trends and inefficiencies. Access to real-time data allows for faster problem detection, correction, and improved energy efficiency. Receiving this information in 24-hour increments can decrease the value and accuracy of the data, let alone 30-day increments.

 

Stop relying on your utility bills to provide insight into your energy consumption. Invest in an energy management system today.

Electro Industries is a worldwide manufacturer of power metering equipment and software. Our comprehensive energy management systems provide real-time insights and alerts, allowing you to quickly identify and correct inefficiencies. Visit our website to learn how we can help your business save energy and money, or give us a call at (866) 928-7908.