In our view, anyone serious about cutting their energy consumption will find it helpful to measure how much they use.  By measuring and recording gas and electricity use regularly, the patterns and trends will show up.

Many people seem to be put off measuring, because of confusion about what uses the most energy and the meaning of terms like kilowatt hours (KwH). So, if you are confused, the following might help:

• Joules and watts - what do these terms mean?
  

• Sprints and Marathons - Kettles are cool ! - what are kilowatt hours and which things use most?
• Questionnaire  - about energy saving
  

More hints and information:

• Below the radar - Energy used by chargers, standby and power supplies
• Units - gas and electricity - meter readings and utility bills - working with KwH and other units
• Thermal images - tracking down heat leaks
  
• Degree days - what are they and how to calculate and use them
  

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.

Measuring and quantifying