Monitor Your Energy Use

Microsoft Hohm - a computerized tool to measure and record your home's energy use - has gone live this week.

To see the site for yourself, please visit: http://www.microsoft-hohm.com/?m_sba=niagemania111 So when you first open the page it has a couple different options. Because I was interested in creating my own account - I clicked on the "sign up" and was brought to my start up page. On the front page of your account (my account) they give you lots of different options. First, they ask if you want to complete your home profile. 2. They let you see the cost breakdown in your area. 3. they show you the annual average energy costs in your area. In my area it was $1,785 - that's like second highest! We need to step up our conservation. 4. Then they provide a section outlining the "Top Ways to Save" and provide the dollar amounts so you can decide whether or not you would like to perform the suggested upgrades. For example, if you set the computer displays in your home to work off of low power when not in use, you could save $84/year. 5. They have related news stories, 6. rebates and offers for your area and lastly a "did you know" section to provide interesting facts. For example: did you know that leaky furnace vents can reduce efficiency by up to 60%? I didn't have quite all the information I needed to set up my home energy profile. Like I have no clue what year my water heater is from, so my profile is only 82% complete. However, I can always go back and enter more information. The more complete my profile is, the better I can start benchmarking my energy use. Good luck with the new app. Please remember it's still in Beta mode.