Jun 5, 2025
Calculate Your Home’s Efficiency Level
Discover how energy-efficient your home is by calculating its efficiency level! To do this, gather two key data points:
- Find your average monthly summer energy usage which is shown in kilowatt hours (kWh) on your electric bill. Take your kWh amounts for June, July and August, add them together and divide by three to get the average.
- Find the square footage (sqft) of your home. The goal is to weigh your average summer energy usage against your home’s square footage and compare that to the state average.
- Arkansas average: Summer monthly kWh 1,600. Home size 1,800 sqft. Dividing 1,600 kWh by 1,800 sqft gives us .89 kWh/sqft to use for our baseline.
- Home example: Summer monthly kWh 2,017. Home size 1,900 sqft. Dividing 2,017 kWh by 1,900 sqft gives us 1.06 kWh/sqft, which is higher than the state average. So, for this household, energy consumption could use some improvement!
Another energy-consumption consideration is the number of occupants in a home (state average is 2.5). Finally, look for other atypical factors that will impact energy usage, like a pool, an electric vehicle or other unusual energy users.
If your home rates less efficient than “Average” on this scale, contact your local electric cooperative for a free energy audit. Our auditors will inspect your home to identify problem areas.
Mitch Ross is the energy efficiency manager for the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas.