"Usage" is the average amount of time you used the appliance. For example, if you used a range for three hours every day, you would enter "3" in the first field and select "hours/day" in the second field. Your cost per month and cost per year will be automatically calculated.
The "Usage" is the number of loads of laundry you do per day, week or month. For example, if you do one load of laundry per week, you would enter "1" in the first field and select "loads/week" in the second field.
The "Usage" is the length of time spent in the shower or the number of baths you would take in a day, week, or month. For example, if you use the shower 10 minutes a day, you would enter "10" in the first field and select "minutes/day" in the second field.
"Typical BTUs/hr" is the BTUs the appliance uses per hour. A BTU, or British Thermal Unit, is the quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit. This field is pre-populated with an estimate for your convenience. If you know the actual BTUs/hr of your appliance, please change the value in this field to more accurately calculate your monthly and yearly costs. For example, if your range uses 20,000 BTUs/hour, you would enter "20000".
Note: BTUs can be found on the ENERGY GUIDE label that came along with your appliances. Sometimes the label will give you the unit in therms (sometime will be therms/hr or therms/load). To convert to BTUs, multiply the therms by 100,000.
For example:
Therms = .09 therms/hr
BTUs = .09 x 100,000 = 9,000 BTUs/hr
"$ Monthly" is the approximate cost per month you are paying to run the appliance (in U.S. dollars). This is calculated by taking the total cost per year and dividing it by 12 (the number of months in a year).
Note: If you provide "months/year" usage, "$ Monthly" is calculated by taking the total cost per year and dividing it by the number of months provided. Actual monthly charges will only be assessed on the months that the appliance is in use.
"$ Yearly" is the approximate cost per year you are paying to run the appliance (in U.S. dollars). This is calculated based on the criteria you provided in the "Usage" and "Typical BTUs/hr" fields.
A measurement of the amount of heat energy in natural gas, equal to 100,000 BTUs. A BTU, or British Thermal Unit, is the quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit.