For many, summer is the best season of all: beaches, vacations, and sunshine. But this season can also bring high temperatures and unbearable humidity, often creating widespread demand for air conditioning. Solar power is one way you can keep your electricity costs down as you’re blasting the air conditioner this summer. After all, you shouldn’t have to sacrifice on comfort just to save money on electricity.
Continue readingTag Archives: electricity bill
How to read your SDG&E bill
San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) is the third largest utility company in the Golden State. Based in San Diego, they provide natural gas and electricity to about 3.6 million people in San Diego and southern Orange County.
Many electricity customers throughout the country receive their electric bill every month and pay it without really diving into the details of what they’re actually paying for…and we’re here to help break it down. In this article, we’ll review the most important parts of your SDG&E electricity bill, and how that changes once you install solar panels.
Continue readingSaving Energy with EnergySage, part 6: Heating & Cooling
This post is the sixth in our series about how to save on your energy bills even when you’re spending more time at home, as the entire EnergySage team is, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic (here are the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth.) Continue to check our blog for more ideas for how you can take control of your energy bills in the coming weeks.
Continue readingSaving Energy with EnergySage, part 4: Home appliances
This post is the fourth in our series about how to save on your energy bills even when you’re spending more time at home, as the entire EnergySage team is, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic (here are the first, second, and third.) Continue to check our blog for more ideas for how you can take control of your energy bills in the coming weeks.
Continue readingSaving energy with EnergySage, part 2: Consumption monitoring
This post is the second in our series about how to save on your energy bills even when you’re spending more time at home, as the entire EnergySage team is, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Here’s the first.) Continue to check our blog for more ideas for how you can take control of your energy bills in the coming weeks.
Continue readingSaving energy with EnergySage, part 1: What’s on your bill?
This post is the first in our series about how to save on your energy bills even when you’re spending more time at home, as the entire EnergySage team is, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Continue to check our blog for more ideas for how you can take control of your energy bills in the coming weeks.
You may have heard that the world is basically on pause right now. The impact of the global pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus appears to be vast, far-reaching, and multilayered, including in some ways that you may not anticipate. For instance, with so many Americans now working from home or sheltering in place, one way you may see the impact of the pandemic personally is in how your energy bills change now that you’re spending more time at home.
Continue readingHow much is your electric bill after going solar?
One of the most common misconceptions about solar is that people who install panels no longer receive an electricity bill from their utility company. This isn’t true in most cases: the majority of solar panel systems in the U.S. are grid-tied, allowing customers to draw electricity from the grid when their solar panels aren’t producing enough electricity.
Continue readingPhantom loads: what you need to know
There are two primary ways to reduce your electricity bills: 1) by generating your own electricity with solar energy and 2) by reducing the amount of electricity you use every month. These two methods of reducing bills go hand-in-hand: if you use less electricity every month, then a smaller (and less expensive) solar energy system will be able to meet your needs.
Continue readingWhat is a kilowatt-hour (kWh)? What is a megawatt-hour (MWh)? The difference between kWh and kw (and MWh and MW)
If you’ve been thinking about your energy costs lately, you may be looking into energy efficiency upgrades for your home such as installing solar panels, adding smart thermostats or pursuing an EnergyStar home certification. And when comparing various energy solutions and the prices for new options, you’re going to hear one metric used incessantly: kilowatt-hour (kWh). So what exactly does a kWh mean and how does it differ from a kilowatt (kW)?
Continue readingUnderstanding electricity load
If you pay an electric bill, then you have an electrical load. Understanding how to calculate electrical load helps to explain your monthly electric bill and provides actionable information that can help you reduce how much you spend on electricity each month. And in the age of innovative utility rate structures, such as demand charges and time-of-use rates, and increasing electrification of homes, with air source heat pumps and electric vehicles becoming more popular, knowing how to calculate your electrical load can you help you determine how much you could save from a solar or solar-plus-storage installation on your property.
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