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Read your power meter monthly and submit kWh (kilowatt-hour) usage to your utility

You’ve probably noticed that your electric meter is not read every month; for those months between meter readings, an estimate is calculated. Not having actual monthly readings will make it hard to determine whether or not you are saving energy compared to the previous month or year. You will have a more accurate picture for tracking your energy usage and savings when you have actual, not estimated, data.

You can read your own meter each month and use the phone (call 1.800.255.3443 and say “meter reading”) or visit the Potomac Edison website to submit your information. Instructions for reading and reporting your electricity usage appear on your monthly billing statement.

Try out an online home energy analyzer

Try one of these tools to help you estimate how your household uses energy:

Potomac Edison’s Home Energy Center Online Analyzer: This web-based self-service option presents you with home efficiency and conservation recommendations for managing your energy costs. Upon completion, you have the option of receiving a reward of four CFLs!

The Energy Guide: provides a Fast Track and an In Depth Analysis of your energy use, providing you with pinpointed recommendations on what to do to begin saving energy now. You can also calculate how much money you can save by replacing appliances.

ENERGY STAR® Yardstick: If you have five minutes and your last 12 months of utility bills, use the ENERGY STAR® Home Energy Yardstick to compare your home’s energy efficiency to similar homes across the country and get recommendations for energy-saving home improvements from ENERGY STAR®. You will also need to enter some basic information about your home (such as zip code, age, square footage, and number of occupants). If you don’t have your bills, contact your utility for a 12-month summary.

Track your household’s electricity usage

Tracking your monthly energy consumption of kWh used and the dollar amount spent can help you have a better understanding of how you use energy and show your savings, as you work to make your home more energy efficient. A simple spreadsheet may be all you need to track your electricity usage patterns and costs.

Better yet, use the online tool, WattzOn, to enter your utility data, plot usage, and calculate savings from one year to the next. The Green Homes Challenge has its own WattzOn Group that you can join. Have the square footage of your home and utility bill statements or data ready when you register. The WattzOn tool aggregates savings for the Green Homes Challenge group members; this helps us evaluate the effectiveness of the Power Saver Challenge. We encourage you to try it!

If you have questions about ways to track your electricity usage, or if you find a great tracking tool you’d like to share, please contact us.

Use a home energy monitoring device

Watching how much energy is being used in your home in real-time can really raise awareness and promote energy savings! Several new products on the market include wireless devices that monitor energy data from your electricity meter; some provide dashboards that you can monitor on your computer. There are also devices that you can plug an individual appliance or electronic into to see how much energy it uses. Learn more about available home energy monitoring devices.

Use reusable bottles while on-the-go

Disposable plastic water bottles are one of the most common forms of litter, and the plastic bottle industry consumes a huge amount of energy and resources.

Instead of using disposable bottles, take a travel coffee mug to cafes and a reusable bottle to the gym, to work, on walks, and on drives. There are several options for water bottle materials, including glass, aluminum, and plastic. If you choose plastic, make sure that it is BPA-free. BPA (bisphenol a) is a potentially harmful organic compound that can leach from certain plastics. Many containers provide information on their product’s BPA content.

To learn more about the impacts of drinking bottled water, watch “The Story of Bottled Water” or this Ecobold video.

Use tap water instead of purchasing bottled water

Many people believe that bottled water is safer than tap water. In reality, tap water is more tightly regulated than bottled water. When you take into account the additional trash problems that disposable plastic bottles create and the resources required to produce them, tap water is the obvious environmentally-friendly choice. You can even buy a water filter that fits on your tap or a filtering pitcher if you want to improve the taste of your tap water. Check out this useful comparison on water filter types.