888-275-3626 Report an Outage 337 896-5384 Main Office RESIDENTIAL COMMERCIAL COMMUNITY NEWSROOM ABOUT SLEMCO PAY/VIEW YOUR BILL OUTAGE MAP Meter Reading Chart How to Read Your Meter and Why It's Important Your meter calculates costs based on a per Kilowatt hour (kWh) basis. A kWh is based on 1000 watts of power being used for one hour. By reading your meter daily and using a little bit of simple math, you can help plan your electric bill each month. In times of extreme heat or cold, reading your meter each day can help you conserve energy and minimize weather related usage. Start by determining how much your ideal electric bill would be and use this formula so you can figure out how many kilowatt hours you can use each month. Budgeted Amount divided by 0.09 (all electric) = Budgeted kWh Budgeted kWh divided by 30 days = Daily kWh usage goal For Example, if you want your bill to be no more than $150/month, $150 divided by 0.09 = 1,667 kWh 1,667kWh divided by 30 days = 56 kWh per day To monitor your daily usage, read your meter at the same time each day and subtract one number from the other. This will give you your daily kWh usage. With this in mind, start by getting some idea of how much each appliance typically uses. 24-Hour Equipment Frequently Used Electric Equipment Routine Short Use Daily Electric Equipment Home or office, a refrigerator is always on. At 9 cents per kWh a 180-Watt Refrigerator costs $11.66 per month. To calculate the exact usage of an electrical item, use this simple formula. Wattage divided by 1,000 = kW kW times hours run per month = kWh kWh times 9 cents = monthly cost For example, a 100 watt light bulb runs 300 hours per month (10 hours per day). 100 watts divided by 1,000 = 0.1kW 0.1kW x 300 hours = 30kWh per month. 30kWh x $0.09 = $2.70 per month This chart provides an idea of how many kWh per hour typical household electric-things consume. Cooking Coffee Maker .2 kWh per hour Dishwasher 4.3 kWh per use Freezer 180 kWh per month Microwave Oven 1 kWh per hour Range 100 kWh per month Refrigerator 180 kWh per month Toaster 3.3 kWh per month Toaster Oven .5 kWh per hour Garbage Disposal 2.5 kWh per month Water Heating Number of People in Household Average kWh Usage Per Month 1 117 kWh 2 202 kWh 3 287 kWh 4 374 kWh 5 456 kWh 6 541 kWh Home Entertainment Radio (3 hours per day) 7 kWh per month Television (3 hours per day) 33 kWh per month Miscellaneous Clock 1.4 kWh per month Heating Pad .06 kWh per hour Light Bulb .1 kWh per hour Well Pump 1 kWh per hour Pool Pump 1 kWh per hour Air Conditioning (Assumption: 12 SEER) 1 Ton 1 kWh per hour 2 Tons 2 kWh per hour 3 Tons 3 kWh per hour 4 Tons 4 kWh per hour 5 Tons 5 kWh per hour Laundry Dryer 4 kWh per load Iron (1 1/2 hour per week) .5 kWh per month Washer (hot wash, warm rinse) 4.5 kWh per use Washer (hot wash, cold rinse) 2.8 kWh per use Washer (warm wash, warm rinse) 3.5 kWh per use Washer (warm wash, cold rinse) 1.9 kWh per use Washer (cold wash, cold rinse) .3 kWh per use Outage Crews On Call 24/7/365 Report An Outage 888-275-3626 © 2020 SLEMCO All Rights Reserved Phone: 337-896-5384 Email: info@slemco.com Address: 2727 SE Evangeline Thruway (70508) P.O. Box 90866 Lafayette, LA 70509 Contact Us Service Outage Map Report an Outage Submit Service Documents Pole Attachment Rental Fee Site Map We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept