Your home comfort is dependent upon using your washing machine, dishwasher and HVAC equipment — but these systems consume a lot of electricity during the course of a year.

To learn how you can save the most energy, use the tips below to monitor electric use by reading your electric meter to gain targeted information about electricity consumption throughout your home. This will allow you to develop a strategic action plan to save energy.

Basic facts you need to know

Electricity companies generally charge you per kilowatt-hour, or kWh. Electricity itself is measured per watt, and a kilowatt  is made up of 1,000 watts.

How your electric meter works

To measure your home’s electricity consumption, a device installed outside your home by your utility company reads the energy draw. It looks very much like a clock, with a meter that measures how much electricity moves through it. The dial on the meter’s “clock” rotates around as your home systems use electricity. The meter measures several aspects: The revolutions that the meter makes as it moves around the dial, and the speed at which it moves, which measures the draw of the current.

How to read your meter

With a pen and paper in hand, you should record the dial’s numbers, reading them from right to left. Include the date. If one of the dials is in between numbers, go with the smaller one. Do this on a regular basis, either weekly or monthly. The more often you record the readings, the more precise information you will obtain.

One of the most significant advantages regular readings provide is that you’ll be able to discover spikes in energy use quickly, which may signal that your air conditioning system, for instance, isn’t operating as efficiently as it did last year.

Need help reading your electric meter or improving the overall energy efficiency of the home-comfort equipment in your home? Contact Jon Wayne Heating & Air Conditioning today. Our experts are happy to help you assess whole-house efficiency and offer solutions. We have served the San Antonio area since the mid-1970s.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.