Adjust the amount of Electricity or Therms used or both. How does this affect what you owe the utility?
Through this online course and other resources, you can learn ways to really adjust your energy use. For example, you can buy energy-efficient appliances, or you can monitor when and how you use energy (by turning the lights off when you leave the room, for example). See Energy Conservation Tips for some ideas.
You can use this online version of a bill to explore how changes in energy use affect what you pay each month. To make changes, simply click on the “Enter User Data” located at the bottom of the bill. You can adjust some of the information when you get to the data page. See suggestions below for how to use these changes as learning opportunities.
This bill uses a generic format patterned after one utility in Wisconsin. Your local utility bill will have variations. Use these differences as discussion topics for your students.
Recalculate the bill to show pounds of carbon dioxide produced rather than dollars and cents. After you have changed data on the “Enter User Data” page, look at the bottom of the page for the button labeled “View in terms of pounds of Carbon Dioxide.” It will bring you to a copy of the bill that displays an approximation of CO2 emissions based on your data.
For more information on CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions and their connection to climate change, go to Section C. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate Change. This section also includes additional greenhouse gas/carbon footprint calculators.
Find out which appliances are the major energy users in your home. How might your bill be reduced if you used energy-efficient appliances such as an ENERGY STAR® Qualified Refrigerator? Use the bill to calculate your savings!
Do any of your appliances leak electricity? How much? How much would your bill be reduced if you could eliminate the wasted watts?
What if the cost of electricity or natural gas increases or decreases? Find out how much people pay for energy in other parts of the country or the world and adjust the bill using those rates. Now how much do you owe?
Simulate how the bill might vary throughout the year. Create and print out 12 bills. How would you adjust the bill to show winter energy costs compared to summer? Why?
How much are you paying to heat the air outside your home? What if you could remove this cost from your bill?
If you heat your home with electricity (rather than natural gas), how might you adjust the bill to reflect your electric heating costs?