Hoping April Shower bring Lower Power
We have all heard the old saying, “April showers bring May flowers,” right? This year, I’m hoping that April showers bring lower power. The extreme cold early in the year had my meter racking up more kilowatt-hours than I rack up bad puns. January alone has 744 hours, and my furnace ran for 574 of them.
Part of that is because my heating system runs like I like to smoke my briskets, low and slow. I heat with a heat pump, and most modern heat pumps, especially variable-speed or inverter models, do not just switch on at full power and shut off. Instead, they adjust continuously, running at lower speeds for longer periods to maintain steady temperatures and improve comfort. While this low and slow approach keeps the house cozy, it does not always mean dramatically lower bills, since the system may run more hours to maintain that even comfort.
I see April as a chance for a slightly lower electric bill, a little relief to offset the high-usage months we just came through, and just before air conditioning season hits full force. It is that brief sweet spot where the weather does most of the work, no furnace running nonstop, no AC cranking all afternoon. If there is ever a time for your meter to catch its breath and your budget to relax, this is it.
I like to track my usage, if not daily then at least every other day. I log into SmartHub to check my previous day’s usage. It can be a little painful to see high kilowatt-hour days, but it helps me catch issues before the month ends. In winter, I check to make sure my electric backup heat is not running unnecessarily, which is one of the most common calls we receive. Sometimes a geothermal or heat pump has an issue, causing the electric heat to run all month and the bill to spike. Keeping an eye on daily usage with SmartHub can help you avoid those surprises.
SmartHub is useful for more than tracking usage. Paying by phone, mail, or stopping in work, but the convenience of paying with SmartHub is hard to beat. You can also sign up for outage notifications and report outages, all from your phone or computer.
If April showers can bring flowers, maybe they can bring a little relief to our electric bills too. Here is hoping our meters get to spin low and slow this month, giving both our homes and our budgets a chance to enjoy the springtime calm.