Learning to read your electric meter is a great way to understand your home’s energy consumption, but it falls short when trying to calculate how efficiently your home is using this energy. That’s because meter readings don’t take weather data into consideration. The weather affects how much energy your home needs for heating and cooling. You can fill the information gap by learning about heating and cooling "degree days."
Since we’re still in the cooling season, let’s calculate "cooling degree days." The process is much the same for the heating season.
Basically, we’ll be gauging a particular day’s temperature ups and downs against a base temperature. The base temperature is determined based on numerous factors. (Check out www.degreedays.net; the website provides degree day data based on temperature information from Weather Underground.) Let’s use 65 degrees for our hypothetical day.
Adding the highest temperature that occurred in the day to the lowest, then cutting the sum in half, we arrive at the day’s average temperature. Let’s say the average temperature on our hypothetical day is 70 degrees.
Between the base and average temperatures there is a difference of 5 degrees. The particular day has 5 cooling degree days.
If you can make these calculations, you can use them to estimate your home’s heating and cooling efficiency. Look at the dates when your meter was read on your utility bill, and determine how many degree days took place during that time frame.
Now you have a “degree day to energy use” ratio. As the weather changes, track this ratio. To lower the “energy use” half of it, try improving your home’s performance with weekend projects and upgrades:
- Seal and insulate your accessible air ducts.
- Raise your thermostat one or two degrees.
- Invest in high-efficiency HVAC equipment to save money in the short and long terms.
- Plug energy leaks around windows, doorframes and other places in your walls.
As you make changes, you should be able to see the meter readings compared to the degree days drop. As always, feel free to contact Rodenhiser for advice on improving your Metrowest Boston home's energy efficiency.
Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about degree days and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Solutions Guide.
Rodenhiser Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning serves the Route 495/128 area of Medway MA. Visit our website to see our special offers to get started today!
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.
Nice people.
Great service.
Since 1928Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy
Read From Over 10000 Happy Customers
-
Both Alex and Patrick were knowledgeable, courteous, and professional. They made a change that might have solved the recent problem and have structured a more complete solution. We agreed to this...
-
Mike was thorough, thoughtful and considerate. Covered their shoes before entering, surveyed my issue and provided an explanation of the services and costs. Great Job!
-
Alex did a great job providing an explanation of the services provided and went out of his way to offer assistance/advice on other issues outside of our scheduled maintenance visit.
-
Brian did an excellent job inspecting our 18-year old boiler and replacing some of the accessory hardware that needed it, he also adjusted the outgoing hot water settings for our radiators and...
-
Rodenhiser is my one stop shop!!! They take care of my HVAC, electrical, and plumbing issues & are always helpful addressing any questions I may have about the systems in my house! Everyone...
-
Chris G. and Nick V. showed up bright and early at 8am to fix my water heater issue. They were on time, polite and were able to fix an issue that has been plaguing my house for a good year. They...
Call Rodenhiser at 508-321-3089
When you are looking for plumbing, electrical, heating or air conditioning in the Route 495 / 128 area, you will be delighted that you called Medway MA' trusted choice since 1928.
With a total dedication to professional workmanship and excellent service, discover why families and businesses continue to trust Rodenhiser after generations of service
