FAQs on energy and measurement
People have various reasons for measuring energy consumption but some questions are frequently raised.
Benchmarking - how does energy consumption vary year on year and with other similar households?Chargers, standby and power supply plugs (e.g. digital radios) - how much energy do they use?Degree days - what are they, how are they calculated and how are they used?Heating controls? - how can timers, programers and thermostat settings contribute to energy efficiency?Joules and watts -what's the difference and how are they related?
Kilowatt hours - what are kilowatts and kilowatt hours and which gadgets and appliances use most?Lighting - Is it easy to switch from Halogen to LED spotlights?Meter readings and utility bills - what are the units on meters and in utility bills? How do units convert to Kilowatt hours (KwH)? Smart meters - what are they? How do the different types vary?
Thermal images - how are they useful to track down heat leaks and save energy?
U-values - what are U-values?
Questionnaire - about energy saving
If you haven't found it already, we would recommend iMeasure as a very useful site for recording and analysing energy consumption.
Not only does it show you the pattern from week to week and year to
year, but it also plots the weather so you can see how efficiently your
home is heated in cold weather.
