We know that we’ve all experienced being shocked by the electric bill. In fact, it happens often when we expect the opposite—but can we somehow predict how much our electric consumption will be? Is there a way on how you can calculate your electric bill?
Fortunately, we’ve got you covered! There are a number of ways on how you can calculate your electric bill without going through hundreds of formulas and calculations. You can do it manually or you can utilize a tool.
The sole benefit of knowing how much your electric bill will be is that you can prepare for it. It will enable you to know which devices and appliances are causing you your electric bill. Having said that, knowing how much your bill would be is beneficial in the context of you knowing what you should expect.
One of the first few steps on successfully knowing how much your next electric bill will be is by reading the meter. Your electric meter plays a vital role on your bill computation. The Manila Electric Company (MERALCO) utilizes these meters for the reading of the past and present months for them to know how much your total electricity usage is.
In Kilowatt per Hour (kWh), they tend to compute the total amount that a household needs to pay via the electricity meter.
Having the ability to read your meter will allow you to accurately keep track of your power consumption and to ensure that your overall household is using energy efficiently.
How do you read your electric meter? If you have an electromechanical meter , the one that has the different dials (the older one), then you have to understand how it works. What you have to do is to just check where the dial is pointing at—two dials move clockwise and two move counter-clockwise.
Take note that the number that each of the dial is pointing at, starting from the rightmost dial to the leftmost. Record what your reading is for this month then subtract the reading for the next month.
NOTE: the kWs reading might not be exact but it could at least give you an idea on what the next reading will be. It will be close so long that you understand how the dial/s work. Read: Easy LPG Safety Guidelines to Avoid Fire and Explosion at Home
So that is how you read an electromechanical meter. Reading a digital electric meter is quite simpler—more self-explanatory. You just have to read the number/s from left to right.
There are two (2) ways on how you can calculate your electric bill: manually and through calculator/s.
Manually compute for your next MERALCO bill If you are not fond of using online calculators, then you need to know different factors on how the computation is done. From the wattage of different devices and applicants, to the conversion of watt-hours to kilowatts, it’s actually simple:
Step 1: Check the wattage of the device The first step in computing for your energy consumption is by knowing each of the appliance’s and device’s wattage. You can find this information at the label, manual, or at the bottom or at the back of your device. If you don’t find it, you can search for the specifications of it online—you just have to know the model number of your device or appliance.
Read: Are Your Appliances Energy Efficient?
Step 2: Know the watt consumption of your appliance or device on a daily basis Now that you know what your device’s or appliances’ wattage is, you now have to compute the number of watts your devices or appliances use.
To do this, you need to multiply the wattage (step 1) of your device by the number of hours that you regularly use your device or appliance. For example, you use a 100-watt air conditioning unit for four (4) hours a day—that means that your aircon results to 400 watt-hours per day.
Step 3: Watt-hours to Kilowatts conversion After computing the watt consumption of your appliance or device, you need to convert it to kilowatts because that is the measurement that electric meters use.
Read: How to Cut Down on Your Monthly Electricity Bill
To convert watts to kilowatts, you have to divide the watt-hours (step 2) by 1,000 for it to be converted to kilowatts. So, in our example above, we have to divide 400 by 1,000—that will result to .4 kWh consumption on a daily basis.
Last Step: The formula to compute for your monthly power consumption The last step in calculating your electric bill for each appliance or device is to, of course, factor in all appliance and devices that you use. The formula is to multiply your device’s daily kWh (step 3) by thirty (30) days or one (1) month to determine how much it consumes in a month.
In our example above, you just have to multiply .4 kWh to a month or thirty (30) days and you will know how much it’s going to cost per appliance per month (depending on the usage).
How can you use this knowledge as an advantage? Now that you know how much a certain device or appliance uses or consumes energy, you can now rank them to try and control each appliance or device’s usage to be able to know which you should use more or less.
Read: How to Pay Utility Bills Online In The Philippines
If you want an easier approach, you can utilize online calculators to help you determine how much energy a specific appliance or device uses.
The main con of this method is that it might not be as accurate as manually computing for it. However, some people claim that the application/s are accurate and can be followed religiously.
Wattmatters calculator The Wattmatters calculator is a project given by the Department of Energy (DoE) which promotes energy efficiency. You can access this by visiting their website at Wattmatters.org.ph .
Access that and you will be able to access their online calculator. An advantage of the Wattmatters calculator among other online calculators because it allows multiple appliances to be in the formula.
Accessing the Wattmatters calculator For you to be able to accurately calculate your electric bill, you can use the Wattmatter’s calculator.
Access the Wattmatter’s Consumption Page Click on the calculate button Select an appliance, its brand, and the model that you own. Try and think of the number of hours in a day that you use the appliance. Fill-out the city or town field Search for the appliance. It will show you the electricity price per kWh for the appliance Read: Effective Ways to Lower Your Water Bill
You can keep on adding and adding appliances and you will see the total of the accumulated amount. From there, you will have an idea how much your next electricity bill will be.
The Meralco Appliance Calculator
If you want a more accurate and targeted approach, you can utilize the Meralco appliance calculator . This, in fact, is the best way to compute for your next Meralco bill.
The app can be downloaded in both the iOS and Android platforms and it can be accessed without having to register or to log-in.
How can you access the Meralco appliance calculator? Firstly, you have to download the Meralco appliance calculator application. Once it’s downloaded, you can now use it to calculate your electric bill.
Open the Meralco Appliance Calculator app/icon Enter your average monthly bill amount. No need to be exact, estimations is allowed. You can select the past three (3) Meralco billing statements. From the dropdown menu, choose the appliance you have. From there, the application will show you the wattage of the appliance. Hit on the calculate button. Hitting on the calculate button will display the electricity cost per hour, day, and week of your appliance. Finally, you can select the monthly cost of the appliance. Read: Best Ways to Save Gas in the Philippines
Unlike the Wattmatters calculator, the Meralco appliance calculator will only allow you to select one (1) appliance at a time. So, you would have to list the cost per month of each appliance down and add it.
It’s actually a simple thing to know how much your next Meralco or electric bill will be. Some people think that it’s difficult and complex to do so because you will be able to see it anyways. However, by calculating your next electricity bill, you will be able to partially control how your electricity bill will look like by limiting some of your appliances’ and devices’ usage on a daily basis.
Do you have an idea how much your next Meralco bill will be? Are you interested in knowing how Meralco computes your electric bill? How they compute for it is the same as how you do; they just have and add some factors that might be a slightly different thing but you will get the idea.
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