When we want to make sense of our electric consumption, most of us simply check our electric bill to see two things: how many kilowatts we’ve used and how much it’s costing us. While this quick glance tells you the dollars spent, it doesn’t offer the full picture of your usage habits, which is crucial if you’re really serious about lowering those bills for good. The solution to this problem – something that I find is often overlooked because many aren’t aware of it or don’t understand how it works – is load profiling. This involves analyzing graphical insights into your electric consumption throughout the day or over a certain period. In this article, I’ll explain what a load profile is and how it looks, how you can use it to cut your electric bills, and how it plays a role in saving money if you decide to invest in solar energy.
What is a Load Profile?
A load profile is essentially a record or chart that shows how much electricity you use at different times of the day, over a specific period.
The vertical axis represents your energy consumption, typically in kilowatts (kWh), while the horizontal axis shows the time of day.
With your consumption plotted against time, you get a clear visual of your usage patterns – when you’re using the most power, when you’re using the least, and how this changes throughout the day or even across seasons.
Let me illustrate how load profiling works through an example.
When you turn on your AC, TV, or washing machine simultaneously, the load increases because all these appliances are pulling power from the grid or your energy source. Once everything’s turned off at night, your load becomes very low.
These load variations are captured by a smart meter or an energy monitoring device. Then, based on the obtained data points, a load profile is generated, representing your consumption visually as a graph.
In a typical residential setting, this graph usually shows:
- A low point of energy use in the early morning (around 6 am), when most people are still sleeping
- A rise in energy use in the morning (around 7 am) as people wake up, cook breakfast, and start their day.
- A dip in energy consumption during the middle of the day, when people are out at work or school.
- A big spike in late afternoon to early evening (around 5 pm to 7 pm) when people return home, turn on the lights, cook dinner, and switch on the TV.
- Another drop late at night as everyone winds down and goes to bed.
If humans were robots programmed to follow the same routine every day at the same time, our load profiles would stay the same for life. But in reality, this isn’t the case. Your load profile will vary based on different factors (and I’ll discuss these in a bit). For example, your family might consume more electricity on weekends compared to weekdays, or you might use more cooling in summer and heating in winter. The holiday season can also change your load profile due to extra lighting and hosting.
Do You Need a Load Profile?
If you want to be meticulous about your energy consumption, track your usage habits closely, and keep more of your money instead of handing it over to your utility company, then yes, you will certainly need a load profile.
As I mentioned, a load profile gives you a detailed, time-based view of your energy consumption. It doesn’t just show you how much energy you’ve used in total, but also tells you when you used it, which helps you:
- Pinpoint exactly where you can reduce energy use by cutting down on unnecessary appliance consumption – no more guessing or relying on assumptions.
- Optimize when to use electricity to take advantage of lower rates during off-peak periods (especially if your utility provider uses Time-of-Use pricing) and avoid paying for demand charges during peak times.
- Plan for renewable energy sources, like solar power. With a clear load profile, you’ll have a solid idea of how big your solar system should be to offset your electric consumption.
To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with just looking at your bill, seeing how much kWh you’ve consumed, and calling it a day – that’s how things have worked for years.
But again, this traditional approach lacks what a load profile can provide – insights into the timing and patterns of your energy usage. This can serve as a baseline for your current habits and a solid point of comparison should significant fluctuations in your energy bills occur in the future.
What Factors Affect Your Load Profile?
The slightest change in your electricity consumption can impact your load profile, but some factors tend to cause a more drastic effect. These include:
Location
The climate and weather in your area impact your energy use for heating, cooling, and lighting. For example, in colder climates, heating will increase energy use in the winter, while in warmer climates, cooling will be the main factor in the summer.
HVAC Usage
Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems are major energy consumers. The type of HVAC system you have and how efficiently it runs will influence your load profile, especially during periods when it’s in use.
Other High-Load Consuming Appliances (Pools, EV, etc.)
Appliances like electric vehicle chargers or pool pumps can create spikes in your energy use, and this shows up often as short-term, high-energy peaks on your load profile.
Lighting
Lighting use can cause small, consistent spikes in your energy consumption, especially during the evening. Homes with many rooms that need lighting or those with shorter daylight hours in winter will have higher lighting-related consumption.
Electric Rate Pricing Plan
Your utility provider may offer different electric rate pricing plans that influence when and how much you pay for electricity.
A common pricing arrangement is the Time-of-Use (TOU) pricing, where electricity costs more during peak hours (e.g. late afternoon) and less during off-peak hours (e.g. nighttime).
In this setup, you’ll want to shift high-consumption activities to off-peak hours to cut your electric bill. This shift in behavior will ultimately affect your load profile.
Net Metering Arrangements
Homeowners with solar systems can send excess energy back to the grid and, in return, earn energy credits on their electric bill – a popular system called net metering. This helps flatten your load profile, as you’ll draw less energy from the grid.
Unpredictable Future Consumption Behavior
There’s no way to predict for certain if, say, you’ll bring in new electronics, host a relative for a few days, or transition to a work-from-home setup. The bottom line is that these behavioral shifts can affect your consumption patterns, which would then introduce new peaks or trends in your load profile.
How Do I Determine My Load Profile?
Millions of modern smart meters have been installed across the US, automatically recording electricity usage and sending the data to utility companies.
In many cases, your utility company generates the load profile report for you. Alternatively, many utility companies offer online portals or apps where you can access your load profile directly.
Can I Apply Load Profiling When Investing in Solar?
Absolutely. In fact, analyzing your load profile is the way to go to get a better sense of how much potential savings a solar system can offer you.
When you have a good understanding of your daily consumption patterns, you can determine the ideal solar capacity to cover your energy needs. This, then, helps you figure out the size and the number of solar panels required to match your usage habits.
What’s more, is that it also gives you an opportunity to think ahead about generating excess solar energy for savings.
For example, if your load profile shows lower consumption in the middle of the day – perhaps because you’re away from home – you might consider either storing this energy in solar batteries for later use or taking advantage of net metering arrangements, whichever option gives you a more favorable savings outcome.
Cut Your Bills and Save Big With Solar
At Avail Solar, our goal is to make the transition to solar as simple as possible for homeowners. We help you move away from expensive grid power, turning those electric bills into solar savings instead.
Our team of certified solar energy experts will design a system that matches your exact energy needs and patterns. We also provide personal advice on solar storage options and net metering arrangements, so you can enjoy even bigger savings.Request a quote or call us today to speak with one of our energy experts!