Winter is almost here. Soon your AC/heating system will begin working hard to keep you warm and cozy inside your home. But all that hard work your system will do may also equate to more energy usage. Following conservation tips are very helpful, but wouldn’t it be nice to know if the steps you’re taking are doing any good before your bill is calculated? Great news! Get SmartHub and gain knowledge to help manage your usage and be prepared for winter’s effect on your bill!
Not Only for Payments
Perhaps you already use SmartHub to view and pay your bill online. You may know about access to your billing history and being able to sign up for automatic payments. One key feature you may be underutilizing, though, is Usage Explorer.
This tool can be found under “My Usage” in SmartHub. It allows you to view your usage in monthly, daily or even hourly intervals. You can also see the average outside temperature for the time frame you’re viewing, allowing you to understand the relationship between your energy usage and weather—an especially useful tool as Old Man Winter makes his way into the Guadalupe Valley!
Understanding Your Usage With SmartHub
Evaluating your electricity consumption helps you know what to expect from your bill. While it’s only natural for usage to increase when it’s cold outside, knowing the daily temperature, what your thermostat is set on and how many kilowatt-hours (kWh) were consumed on a specific day with similar conditions gives you more control. This information makes it possible for you to decide where and how you might need to conserve more. For instance—maybe on a Thursday, when the low temperature was 38 degrees and everyone was away from the house, you used just as much kWh as you did Sunday, when the high temperature for the day was 46 degrees and three people were home all day. This knowledge might make turning your thermostat up or down a few degrees seem a little more tolerable.
Tracking your usage on SmartHub also prepares you for higher winter bills. Since the electricity bills you receive are for a billing cycle measuring usage from the month before, the time that passes before the new bill is calculated might take you by surprise—especially if the weather is milder in the couple weeks right before your bill comes out. Since SmartHub allows you to view your previous billing period, along with your current usage, you’ll have a better idea of how much difference you may expect to see in your next bill.
With GVEC and SmartHub, Knowledge is Power!
Don’t be caught off guard by low temperatures and unexpected usage this season! Use SmartHub to gain valuable knowledge when it comes to your household’s energy consumption! Log in or sign up for SmartHub at gvec.smarthub.coop using your email address and GVEC account number. Or download the free SmartHub app from the App Store or Google Play. Simply search “SmartHub,” and install. Type “GVEC” into the search box when prompted to search by location.
