Sample Table for Monitoring Energy Usage
When doing your 3-day review of your energy usage, remember that you can use 3 days from the past week, rather than tracking the upcoming 3 days. Most people use energy in the form of electricity in their homes and gasoline for transportation, but you might have a wood-burning fireplace or use natural gas or liquid propane in your home as well. Below is a sample table that you can use for this Discussion Board. Replace the sample information with your own information. You may have energy sources not listed in the sample table. If so, be sure to include them. You should delete the instructions prior to uploading your table, or just cut and paste the table in the Discussion Board directly.
| Electricity | Gasoline | Wood | Solar | Natural Gas | |
| Day 1
Thursday (2/5/2015) |
Lights – 4 hours
Computers – 3 hours TV – 8 hours Heating – off and on for entire day at 73 F Laundry – wash and dry |
Drove to and from work (1.5 hours) | Solar panels heat water (10 hours of sunlight) | Cooking (1 hour) | |
| Day 2
Friday (2/6/2015) |
Lights – 4 hours
Computers- 3 hours TV – 8 hours Heating – off and on for entire day at 73 F Laundry – wash and dry |
Drove to and from work and went to visit friends (2.5 hours) | Ran fireplace for 4 hours (2 logs) | Solar panels heat water (10 hours of sunlight) | Cooking (1 hour) |
| Day 3
Saturday (2/7/2015) |
Lights – 7 hours
Computers- 8 hours TV – 12 hours Heating – off and on for entire day at 73 F Laundry – wash and dry |
Ran errands and drove to visit family (3.5 hours) | Solar panels heat water (10 hours of sunlight) | Cooking (3 hours) | |
| 3- day cost estimate (optional)
Divide monthly bills (30-day cost) by 10 to get an average |
$18.47 | $19.00 | Free – I cut these from my yard. | Free – our solar panels are paid off. | $3.58 |
Once you have prepared your chart, you can look for ways to lessen your energy usage. Could you program your thermostat to go down to 63 F while no one is in the house?
Do you leave TVs on all night?
Does your TV have a timer to turn off automatically?
Could you carpool, or do some of your errands on the way home from work so as to not have to make a separate trip? Could you combine your laundry and do it 1 day, saving electricity and water?
Do you use incandescent light bulbs that could be exchanged for florescent or LED bulbs?