You’ve probably seen the ads or even had someone knock on your door to tell you about solar panels. This week we are answering your questions about going solar.
This morning I shared the story of one couple who says a solar panel salesperson tricked them into buying expensive solar panels.
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They were told government grants would pay for the panels when in reality, there are no grants like this available. In the end, I helped get the solar panels removed from the home. While looking into this issue, I found information useful for anyone even if you are not looking into solar panels.
How to check your daily and hourly electricity usage
If you do get solar panels you need to know how much electricity you are creating and using each day. The smart meter on your home makes it easy to find all of that information. And when you’re shopping around for a new electric provider and plan you need to know how much electricity you generally use each month.
Instead of searching for all of your old bills to get that information you can log onto one website and get your usage history in minutes. Gage Mueller with ADT Solar explained how the Smart Meter Texas website can help.
“Every single one of us has a smart meter on our house. And this data is public information. You use your S ID number, the meter id, and the retail electric provider, which is all on your bill. And you can go in and create a smart meter account and you can literally see how your house used to power two days ago in 15-minute increments. Right. It’s really it’s useful information. What a solar company cares about. What they should care about is the last 12 months of your consumption. But the good news is with Texas, with the Smart Meter Texas website, they’re actually going to show you the last 24 months so you can actually see how your house uses power year over year differently,” said Mueller.
We explain how to find your smart meter ID number. You’ll need that to create an account.
SEE MORE: This week’s Ask Amy Episode with Mueller explains everything you should know if you’re thinking about buying solar panels.