Millheim Residential Energy Tracker Instructions Before you begin, • You will need a copy of your 2014 through the most recent energy bills for the different types of fuel that you use. o If you are a West Penn Power customer you can create an account to begin receiving your electricity bills by email. Click HERE to create an account using your account number. You can also call: 1-800-686-0021 to request prior bills.
If you already have an online account with West Penn Power, simply log into your account. If you are a first time user click on the “Register Now” link.
o If you are a UGI natural gas customer, you can request that your past two years of bills be made available by calling: 1-800-276-2722 and requesting to speak to a representative. • When speaking with the representative, simply request to have them send you the previous two years of bills for your reference.
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Step 1: Complete required fields • Once you have acquired your energy bill information, you can download the Residential Energy Tracker by clicking HERE and saving it to your computer. • Open the Tracker and begin filling out the fields (Figure 1) in the blue box located on the top right hand corner that includes: Name, Address, E-mail, Phone, Total Square Footage of Residence, and Total Number of Residents.
Step 1: Fill out the required information in the blue box located above. Figure 1: Required Fields
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Note: Please be sure to enter the Total Square Footage of Residence and Total Number of Residents (Figure 2) for each year when filling out this section. The information and graphs will not populate if this information is not entered for each year.
Figure 2: Annual Required Fields
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Step 2: Enter information from electricity bills • Once you have entered the required information, complete the kWh and WPP Cost columns in the (blue) Electricity graph with information from your electricity bill (Figure 3). Figure 4 below is an example of a West Penn Power electric bill that shows where you can find this information.
Figure 3: Electricity Bill Entry
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Billing Period
WPP Cost column
kWh column
Figure 4: West Penn Power Electricity Sample Bill
• Make sure you only enter information from your electric bills in the Electricity columns (outlined in red) Note: Only enter information into the Electric Supplier Cost column if you also purchase electricity from a different supplier than your main utility company. 5
Step 3: Enter information from remaining fuel bills • Enter information from your Natural Gas, Oil, or Other fuels in the corresponding columns highlighted below. If you use an energy source that is not listed (such as firewood, wood pellets, propane or coal) enter that information in the “Other” column. • Change the name of the “Other” column to specify the type of fuel, and the “Unit” to the appropriate unit for that fuel type (such as tons, cords, or gals). • Figures 6, 7, and 8 below show where the information to enter is located at on the bills.
Figure 5: Natural Gas, Oil, and Other fuel entry
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• Below is an example of a natural gas bill from UGI. The highlighted fields have the information necessary to complete the Natural Gas column in the Tracker.
Ccf column
Billing Period
Total Cost column
Figure 6: Propane Sample Bill 7
: Natural Gas Sample Bill
• Below is an example of an oil bill. The highlighted fields have the information necessary to complete the Oil column in the Tracker.
Gallons column
Total Cost column Figure 7: Oil Sample Bill
• Enter the information for every month that you purchased oil. If there are some months that you did not purchase any oil, do not enter in any information. Do not average the amount and cost; the graphs and information will still populate correctly without doing so.
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• Below is an example of a Propane bill. The highlighted fields have the information necessary to complete the “Other” column in the Tracker.
Unit column
Total Cost column
Figure 8: Propane Sample Bill
• Enter the information for every month that you purchased propane. If there are some months that you did not purchase any propane, do not enter any information. Do not average the amount and cost; the graphs and information will still populate correctly without doing so.
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Step 4: Enter conversions for “Other” fuels (if necessary) a. • If you entered a fuel into the “Other” category, refer to the “Energy Conversion Chart” at the bottom of the spreadsheet to convert the Fuel Type into its respective kWh equivalent. • Enter the conversion into the kWh Conversion box in the blank table outlined in red at the bottom right section. For example, the oil kWh conversion factor is 40.65. • This conversion from units such as gallons, ccf, or cords to kWh is necessary to accurately compare the amount of energy contained within the different types of fuel. Did You Know? • kWh is an abbreviation for kilowatt hour. It a unit of energy equivalent to one kilowatt of power expended for one hour. It is the common unit of power used by electricity companies • kW an abbreviation for kilowatt. It is the demand of electricity used, unlike kWh, which is the consumption. This demand is typically measured in 15 or 30 minute intervals.
40.65 Step 4a: Enter the kWh Conversion factor from the chart into the kWh conversion box in the table above.
Figure 9: kWh Conversion
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b. • Once you’ve entered in the kWh Conversion, refer to the Energy Conversion Chart again and enter the Carbon Conversion factor from the chart in to the empty Carbon Conversion box on the table. For example, the Carbon Conversion factor for oil is .0101.
40.65
.0101
Step 4b: Enter the Carbon Conversion factor from the chart into the empty conversion into the kWh Conversion box on the table above. Figure 5: Carbon Conversion
• The number of metric tons of CO2 is calculated from the Carbon Conversion factor to communicate the Monthly and Annual Carbon Footprints. Each type of fuel releases a different amount of carbon into the environment when used; this is the Carbon Conversion factor.
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Step 5: View charts • Once you have entered in the required information, the charts in the bottom tabs will automatically populate with information. The charts will change whenever new data is entered or data is edited in order to reflect an up-to-date portrayal of your energy usage and costs. To access these charts simply click on the chart tabs highlighted below.
Figure 6: Populated Charts
• REMINDER: Remember to save the document each time you enter or change information • If you wish to print out the charts from the tabs, select each chart that you wish to print individually to ensure the proper settings function. *The charts are only effective when printed in color.
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• Below are some examples of charts that are produced from the information entered into the Energy Tracker.
Figure 7: Populated Charts Example
Step 6: Return completed Energy Tracker • After you complete year 2014 please send a copy of the Tracker to
[email protected]. We ask that you please send a copy of the tracker after each completed year. This allows us to track energy savings over time and to more effectively engage individuals in energy-saving measures. Documenting the energy savings achieved through this project requires bill-to-bill comparison by our grant sources. • All the information received will be kept confidential and data will only be shared in the aggregate to demonstrate the success of the Renewing Millheim’s Energy Independence Project. 13