https://wattdraw.com/ What your appliances really cost to run, computed from your state’s electricity rate and how long each one actually draws power — not nameplate watts times hours. en-us Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:36:56 GMT https://wattdraw.com/guides/why-is-my-electric-bill-so-high/ https://wattdraw.com/guides/why-is-my-electric-bill-so-high/ Fri, 28 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT Four causes account for nearly every large electricity bill. Here is how to tell which one is yours in about ten minutes, using the bill you already have. https://wattdraw.com/guides/duty-cycle/ https://wattdraw.com/guides/duty-cycle/ Fri, 28 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT Why nameplate watts times hours overstates a refrigerator threefold, what a duty cycle actually is, and how to measure your own. https://wattdraw.com/guides/phantom-load-myth/ https://wattdraw.com/guides/phantom-load-myth/ Fri, 28 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT The arithmetic on vampire power, done properly. What always-on devices actually cost, which ones are worth unplugging, and why the famous statistic does not survive contact with a calculator. https://wattdraw.com/guides/what-uses-the-most-electricity/ https://wattdraw.com/guides/what-uses-the-most-electricity/ Fri, 28 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT The real ranking, from the EIA’s household survey rather than from intuition. Heating, water and cooling are two thirds of it, and the things people worry about are mostly rounding error. https://wattdraw.com/guides/winter-electric-bill/ https://wattdraw.com/guides/winter-electric-bill/ Fri, 28 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT Backup resistance heat is the usual answer, and it produces no warning of any kind. How to tell whether it is yours, and what else it could be. https://wattdraw.com/guides/summer-electric-bill/ https://wattdraw.com/guides/summer-electric-bill/ Fri, 28 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT Cooling has the widest regional spread of any household end use — a factor of four across US climate zones. What air conditioning really costs, and which of the standard advice survives contact with the numbers. https://wattdraw.com/guides/watts-amps-volts-kwh/ https://wattdraw.com/guides/watts-amps-volts-kwh/ Fri, 28 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT The four units on every appliance label, what each one actually tells you, and the single conversion that turns any of them into money. https://wattdraw.com/guides/cut-your-electricity-bill/ https://wattdraw.com/guides/cut-your-electricity-bill/ Fri, 28 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT Every saving on this site, computed and put in order. Most published advice is a flat list; this one is sorted by dollars, and the bottom of it is worth almost nothing. https://wattdraw.com/guides/time-of-use-tariffs/ https://wattdraw.com/guides/time-of-use-tariffs/ Fri, 28 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT On a time-of-use rate the same kilowatt-hour can cost three times as much at six in the evening as at midnight. Which loads are worth shifting, and which cannot be. https://wattdraw.com/guides/read-your-electricity-bill/ https://wattdraw.com/guides/read-your-electricity-bill/ Fri, 28 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT The only two numbers that matter, how to work out what you actually pay per kilowatt-hour, and which lines on the bill you cannot change however carefully you use electricity. https://wattdraw.com/guides/ev-charging-at-home/ https://wattdraw.com/guides/ev-charging-at-home/ Fri, 28 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT Cost per mile rather than cost per charge, why Level 1 and Level 2 cost almost exactly the same, and the tariff decision that matters more than either. https://wattdraw.com/guides/energy-monitors/ https://wattdraw.com/guides/energy-monitors/ Fri, 28 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT Whole-home energy monitors put every circuit on a graph. Here is what the three types actually measure, which questions each one can answer, and when a $30 plug meter is the better buy. https://wattdraw.com/guides/measure-one-appliance/ https://wattdraw.com/guides/measure-one-appliance/ Fri, 28 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT A fortnight with a plug-in meter settles any argument about a single appliance. The method, the mistakes that ruin the reading, and how to turn kilowatt-hours into an annual figure. https://wattdraw.com/guides/thermostat-settings/ https://wattdraw.com/guides/thermostat-settings/ Fri, 28 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT Setback, the 3–5% per degree rule, why "leave it steady" is wrong for furnaces and right for heat pumps, and the one setting that silently triples a winter bill.