I need an electricity calculator

[Animesona]

So I pay half the electric bill and I want to change that to only pay for what I use so I need to know how I can calculate my energy usage so I can pay the right amount

[minibois]

Just now, Animesona said:

So I pay half the electric bill and I want to change that to only pay for what I use so I need to know how I can calculate my energy usage so I can pay the right amount

https://www.rapidtables.com/calc/electric/electricity-calculator.html

This calculator is only half of what you need.

 

Knowing the amount of power you use (and what the power costs) is half the battle.

Maybe a kill-a-watt or similar could work, but that of course only tells you what amount of power you use right now, rather than at all times combined.

[TetraSky]

So... You're going to be calculating to the second, every time YOU open a light? Every time you use an electronic device? The fact the fridge is working 24/7 for everyone in the house, the washing machine, the dryer, toaster, microwave, oven, etc etc etc  ?
You're insane. Pay your dues and stop trying to cut corners just because YOU feel you're not consuming as much as others.

[kelvinhall05]

Plot twist, you already use like 80% of the energy that your house/dorm uses.

 

 

OP, don't be an asshole and just pay half the bill. 

[Animesona]

2 minutes ago, kelvinhall05 said:

Plot twist, you already use like 80% of the energy that your house/dorm uses.

 

 

OP, don't be an asshole and just pay half the bill. 

First off my dad's an asshole second I'm only gonna pay what I owe which is like 12$ since I'm only using a few electrical items

[kelvinhall05]

Just now, Animesona said:

First off my dad's an asshole second I'm only gonna pay what I owe which is like 12$ since I'm only using a few electrical items

So you're splitting the bill with your dad? How old are you?

 

 

If you're, like, in your 20s, but still live with your parents, paying rent/bills should be expected. How much is the whole bill?

[Animesona]

22 minutes ago, kelvinhall05 said:

So you're splitting the bill with your dad? How old are you?

 

 

If you're, like, in your 20s, but still live with your parents, paying rent/bills should be expected. How much is the whole bill?

Oh it's just misunderstanding sorry my mistake no I moved out of my parents house into nice trailer I bought I'm living in it now so I no longer live in the same house as my parents I'm still on their property but that's it I've decided I'm only gonna pay what I use example electricity he has this hugeass central heat and air that is like for a small company building it's 4 tons and it's not a small home unit either since I'm not using it I decided I should no longer have to pay half of a huge electricity bill each month when I'm not able to use it

[Curious Pineapple]

Should be easy enough to buy an electricity meter if youre just in a trailer with I assume a single feed into it.

[Roswell]

30 minutes ago, Animesona said:

Oh it's just misunderstanding sorry my mistake no I moved out of my parents house into nice trailer I bought I'm living in it now so I no longer live in the same house as my parents I'm still on their property but that's it I've decided I'm only gonna pay what I use example electricity he has this hugeass central heat and air that is like for a small company building it's 4 tons and it's not a small home unit either since I'm not using it I decided I should no longer have to pay half of a huge electricity bill each month when I'm not able to use it

I'd still probably let it go. Property tax, school tax, etc all add up to thousands and thousands in a lot of areas. You're getting a good deal not having to rent land with your trailer.

[Yoinkerman]

If they're cutting you other deals living on their land maybe don't fuss about it.

 

What is half the electricity bill, anyway?

 

If it's under like $150 I wouldn't fuss

[Animesona]

1 hour ago, Yoinkerman said:

If they're cutting you other deals living on their land maybe don't fuss about it.

 

What is half the electricity bill, anyway?

 

If it's under like $150 I wouldn't fuss

It's over 150$

[TetraSky]

29 minutes ago, Animesona said:

It's over 150$

So do you have to pay rent to live in that trailer or anything like that? Or are you literally only paying for half the electricity bill?

If that's all you're paying (other than food and services like your phones, internet or whatever)... honestly it's still a pretty damn good deal.

If you were to move out of your parent's property, you would likely find out that paying rent and electricity (and water tax if you have those in your area) would be a hell of a lot more. 

But to be honest, like Curious Pineapple said, you could buy an electricity meter just for the trailer, that way you'd know exactly how much power you consume for the entire trailer. (Connected to the line between the house and the trailer... If you have a dedicated panel, that's even better.)

3 hours ago, Curious Pineapple said:

Should be easy enough to buy an electricity meter if youre just in a trailer with I assume a single feed into it.

 

[LogicalDrm]

If you would be only using wall sockets, then using kill-a-watt or similar plugs is option. However, heating, lights, oven/stove don't use normal wall plugs. You would need some hefty math to calculate how much your lamps use and so on.

[TempestCatto]

Does your home not have a smart meter? Our mobile home (from 1980) was upfitted with one years ago by our electric company. We can see exactly what used how much energy during what time. Either way, couldn't you just take down the usage a normal meter reads every day then calculate the average after 31 days?

[akio123008]

You can just get a kWh meter like the one that is already installed in your parents' house by the grid operator. There are a lot of cheap ones you can buy on the internet, just use the search term "kwh meter". You can get one that attaches to a DIN rail (or whatever awful imperial standard rail) and install it in a proper box at the location where the power line enters your trailer.

 

This solution takes a bit more effort, but in my opinion, because this is a permanent (or at least long term) solution, a crappy kill-a-watt and extension cord mess would just not be nice.

 

You'll probably have to do some custom wiring (these meters usually don't come with plugs and sockets on them) so be careful or call someone to install it for you.

 

[Takumidesh]

if you really don't use that much power, a couple solar panels and deep cycle batteries could get you off the grid completely you said you use about $12 dollars worth of electricity. at the national (USA) average of .12 per kwh. that puts you at ~ 3.5 kwh a day, or about 150 watts an hour. i see a couple kits that would cost you under $1000 all in to be totally off the grid that can generate that much power. 

 

That being said, Unless you don't do anything with electricity at all, I think you maybe are underestimating your electrical footprint. How often do you use a microwave? charge your phone/laptop/tablet? use a desktop pc, specifically a gaming pc? every light you turn on, and everytime you open the fridge?

 

the average electrical usage of a household, is about 900kwh. if you think your bill is around $15 then you are saying you use about 0.4% of what an average household uses. 

 

edit: I did my math wrong at the end there. its more like 9-11% of an average house

[BuckGup]

On 5/2/2020 at 2:35 PM, minibois said:

https://www.rapidtables.com/calc/electric/electricity-calculator.html

This calculator is only half of what you need.

 

Knowing the amount of power you use (and what the power costs) is half the battle.

Maybe a kill-a-watt or similar could work, but that of course only tells you what amount of power you use right now, rather than at all times combined.

Actually Kill-a-watt and other meters have a lifetime functionality and will tell you how much power you have used since you plugged it in.