Energy Use: Auditing Your Home's Efficiency

The average household wastes a significant portion of its energy consumption on "vampire power" and thermal inefficiencies that go unnoticed until the bill arrives. We pay the total without questioning the breakdown, treating energy costs as a fixed tax rather than a variable expense. The Energy Use template changes this dynamic by turning your utility bill into an efficiency audit.

The Thermal Correlation

Most people track cost, but cost is a lagging indicator. It tells you what you spent, not why. This template introduces a critical variable: Temperature.

By logging the average monthly temperature alongside your El Kw (Electricity) and Gas Therm usage, you create a baseline for your home's thermal performance. If your gas usage spikes in January, that's expected. But if your gas usage remains high in March when the temperature has risen by 10 degrees, you've identified an insulation failure or a thermostat scheduling error. This correlation is the only way to separate "weather" from "waste."

Normalization: The True Cost

Comparing February to March is often misleading because billing cycles vary. A $200 bill for 28 days is actually more expensive per day than a $210 bill for 31 days.

This template solves this with a Days in billing cycle field and three powerful calculation scripts: Cost per day, El per day, and Gas per day. These normalized metrics strip away the calendar variance, allowing you to see the raw efficiency of your home. You can finally answer the question: "Am I using more power, or was this just a longer month?"

The Efficiency Audit

Over a year, this data reveals the "personality" of your house. You might discover that your electricity usage doesn't drop as much as it should in the fall, pointing to inefficient appliances running in the background. Or you might see that your Cost per day is creeping up even when usage is flat, alerting you to silent rate hikes from your provider.

Energy management isn't just about turning off the lights; it's about understanding the relationship between your home, the weather, and your wallet. This template gives you the data to manage that relationship.