How to see your electricity use by the hour

Open your utility’s own account website and look for its usage tools. PG&E, for example, directs you to sign into your account to view energy use.^⁠[2] Before you compare, check that the account and service address shown belong to the home you’re checking.

If the account lists several meters or services, select the one for this home. If you aren’t the account holder, check which viewing and sharing permissions you have.

• Check the account.

  Keep your current bill nearby. Naperville’s Empower enrollment asks for the account number on it.^⁠[3]

• Check the address.

  Confirm the home and unit before reading the chart. Don’t compare a previous home’s history with this one.

• Choose completed dates.

  Write down the start and end of the period you can actually see.

• Read the labels.

  Record the units and the time covered by each bar or row. Keep those labels with your notes.

You don’t need to copy every reading on your first visit. Find the usage view, select a completed period, and note the detail it offers. If you can’t find a usage page, use the account’s help instructions rather than guessing what a chart should contain.

Read the interval label to see how much time each reading covers. Green Button lets you download or share utility usage data. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) says its intervals can be 15-minute, hourly, daily or monthly, depending on the utility.^⁠[1]

Kilowatt-hours (kWh) measure electricity used over a period.

Keep the reading’s time span separate from how you get the data. A saved file and consent to ongoing sharing are different choices.^⁠[1] PG&E also says its available data tools depend on account type.^⁠[4]

A home’s total use also has limits. Naperville explains that its dashboard records overall usage, which could reflect many activities.^⁠[5] Keep that measurement boundary in mind when you notice a high bar.

Check your provider’s stated delay and the newest timestamp shown. A short reading interval doesn’t tell you when data will appear: Naperville can show frequent readings that are about a day old.^⁠[3] These examples describe different accounts, not a national update schedule.

Choose a file download or ongoing sharing based on what you want to do. Green Button uses XML, a common file format for energy data. Download My Data lets you save your usage to your own computer.^⁠[1]

• For a saved copy, find the download option. PG&E’s residential instructions go through “Usage and rates,” then “View Usage Details,” and “Green Button Download my data.”^⁠[4]
• For ongoing access, read the authorization. DOE describes Connect My Data as opt-in sharing under your control. PG&E’s residential Share My Data allows ongoing access to a registered third party after authorization through My Account.^⁠[1,4]
• Check the actual file format. Naperville offers a spreadsheet download. That description alone doesn’t establish Green Button XML support.^⁠[3,1]

Saving a file isn’t the same choice as approving ongoing access.^⁠[1] Before sharing, read which account and data the request covers. If you only want a record for yourself, look for your provider’s download steps.

Compare full days or other date ranges with the same units. Naperville supports day, week, month and custom comparisons; Con Edison suggests hour-to-hour, weekday/weekend and day/evening views.^⁠[3,6] Choose a view that fits your question.

• Write down the date range and interval before comparing totals.
• Use the same units in both views, and leave an unfinished period out.
• Note what was happening at home, such as an ordinary laundry evening or time away.
• Treat the note as a question to explore, rather than proof of an appliance’s use.

Naperville’s total-use data can reflect many things, so a high bar alone doesn’t identify its cause.^⁠[5] Our guide to what uses the most electricity at home covers appliance categories. Here, keep your result tied to the account data you actually have.

A suitable plug-in meter can help you check one device; keep electrical-system work outside this task. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says not to remove the service-panel cover; that work belongs to a qualified electrician.^⁠[7] This guide involves no panel work, clamp installation, utility-meter work or wiring.

A plug-in meter that suits your device can answer a narrower question. For example, the P4400 manual describes power in watts and accumulated energy in kWh, along with elapsed measurement time.^⁠[8] Those are different readings: power at a moment and energy over the measured period.

• Follow your own meter, appliance and socket instructions and ratings. The P4400 manual specifically warns against exceeding the maximum ratings on its label.^⁠[8]
• Respect every restriction for that model. The P4400 manual warns against rain or moisture and removing its cover.^⁠[8]
• Write down what you notice at home. Don’t unplug or interrupt essential medical equipment to investigate a chart.

This model’s instructions don’t tell you what works with another device or appliance. For a separate question about idle electronics, our guide helps you understand standby power. You don’t need a hardware purchase to complete the account-data checklist below.

Use the detail your account offers, and ask what else it can show. DOE explicitly includes utilities that provide only monthly billing data.^⁠[1] A missing hourly view doesn’t mean you skipped a step.

• Ask your serving utility which usage history this account can show.
• If your building or another company bills you, ask whether its history measures your home alone. If it doesn’t, note that limit and stop the household comparison.
• Note the interval shown or the fact that no detailed history is shown.

Keep the online-history task separate from checking a physical display. If that’s what you need, our guide explains how to read your electric meter. Don’t assume the display gives you the same history as an account download.

Finish with notes you can return to when you compare usage. Keep the dates and labels alongside your notes, so you know what each total represents. If an option isn’t offered, note that limit instead of filling in a guess.

Public Grid lets you connect your existing utility account and track the usage data it can show.^⁠[9] Use that history alongside the interval and update details you checked with your utility. It’s free to sign up, with no contracts.

Electricity accountvia Utility Co.

Sample account

UsageTracked