Back to top Billing For answers to billing questions, see the Billing FAQs . If you have an electric hot water heater it will use less electricity than if you were home using hot water. If an electric water heater is left energized during your vacation it will continue to maintain the tank temperature, even if you re not using hot water. Heat is lost through the insulation and copper pipes that come out the top. A natural convection of heated water flows up the pipes, cools and returns to the water heater to be re-heated.
Many people forget that energized lights and appliances add heat to their homes.
Your furnace or electric heater will run longer if these lights and appliances are off while you are on vacation. In all-electric homes, usage in the winter months is directly proportional to the outside temperature. Using indoor equipment like televisions, lights, an oven, water bed heaters and other appliances has almost no impact on your usage, because it just offsets the amount of heat that would otherwise come from the electric heat. If refrigerators and freezers were not emptied and turned off while you were gone they will continue to operate to maintain preset temperatures. If you are determined to use no electricity during your vacation, turn off the circuit breaker.