IMPORTANT THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW WHEN USING THE COST CALCULATOR

1. The muvar Cost Calculator should be used for informational purposes only. The amounts shown here are energy usage cost (per kWh/GJ). They do not include Transmission, Distribution and Delivery charges; therefore they do not match your total billed amounts each month. For solar systems, the calculator does not estimate surplus energy pricing.
2. All figures provided by the muvar Cost Calculator on this page are only estimates. Estimates are subject to change and do not represent an offer or guarantee for future costs of energy.
3. Benchmark calculations are based on current Electricity/ Natural Gas Regulated Rates Option (RRO) and do not take into account future adjustments. Click here for more information on Regulated Price Rate Options (RRO).
4. The Cost Calculator is not designed to estimate bills for consumers on equal billing/budget billing plans.
5. The usage estimates used in this calculation are based on monthly consumption for the typical Alberta residential customer. Your monthly usage may be different.

Units of electricity and Natural Gas

Electricity and natural gas prices are standardized units used for selling and consuming energy. To get the best deals in the energy market, it’s important to understand how energy retailers use units like kilowatts.

Use the hours (kWh) and gigajoules (GJ) to calculate your energy bills. In Canada, one of the most common units of electrical power for appliances is the watt (W) or kilowatt.
hour (kWh).

Watts, kilowatts, and kilowatt-hours:

The unit of power, Watts (W), quantifies the rate of energy transfer. It is defined as 1 joule per second. A kilowatt is a multiple of a watt. One kilowatt (kW) is equal to 1,000 watts. Both watts and Kilowatts are SI units of power and are the most common units of power used. Kilowatt-hours (kWh) are a unit of energy. The energy required to maintain one kilowatt of power is equal to one kilowatt-hour. one hour. Generally, when discussing the cost of electricity, we speak in terms of energy. Energy (E) and Relationships between power (P) and time (t) exist:

P = E/t
E = Pt

Most often, we measure and pay for electricity based on the number of kilowatt-hours used. The reason that kilowatt-hours are typically used as a measurement of energy rather than watt-hours is simply Due to scale, the annual energy consumption of a typical household in the United States is relatively low. It is easier to discuss in terms of kilowatt-hours instead of millions of watts.

BTU and BTU/h

The Imperial and US customs use British thermal units (BTU) as a measurement of heat. It is defined as the amount of heat that is required to increase the temperature. One pound of water is equivalent to one degree Fahrenheit. Heat is a type of energy, so BTU can be directly compared to other measurements of energy such as joules (a SI unit of energy), calories (a metric unit), and kilowatt hours (kWh).

1 BTU = 0.2931 watt-hours
1 BTU = 0.0002931 kWh
1 kWh ≈ 3412 BTU

BTU/h, or BTU per hour, is a unit of power that represents the energy transfer rate of BTU per hour. BTU/hoften shortened to simply BTU to indicate the power of appliances. For instance, an air conditioner marked withA label of 12,000 BTU actually has a power requirement of 12,000 BTU per hour.

1 BTU/h = 0.2931 watts

Gigajoule (GJ):

As with kWh, gigajoule is also used to measure the amount of energy used (electricity or natural gas). In The equivalent unit of measurement for natural gas usage in Alberta and many other Canadian jurisdictions is GJ, or 1 billion joules. As a result, your energy retailer would calculate your natural gas consumption. gigajoule (GJ) basis. One GJ of natural gas is equivalent to:

• o 26 Litres Of Gasoline
• o 39 Litres Of Propane

For example, if your furnace has a rating of 100,000 BTU/hr and you run it for 100 Using the following formula, you can calculate your monthly natural gas usage in gigajoules.

1. Total BTU usage per month: 100,000 BTU/hour X 100 hours = 10,000,000 BTU
2. How many joules does this equate to?10,000,000 BTU X 1,055 joules/BTU= 10,550,000,000 joules
3. Finally, let’s convert to gigajoules (GJ).10,550,000,000 joules X 1,000,000,000 joules/GJ= 10.55 GJ per month

As this translates to a usage of 10.55 GJ per month and a price of CAD 3.50 per GJ, the natural gas usage would cost CAD 36.93 for the month.

Ton:

There are numerous definitions of a ton that relate to the measurement of weight. In the context of power, the “ton” refers to the ton of refrigeration. The definition of the refrigeration ton is as follows: The rate of heat transfer is required to melt 2,000 pounds (1 short ton) of pure ice at 0°C in 24 hours. This term is primarily used in the United States to describe the efficiency with which refrigerators and air conditioners extract heat.

1 ton ≈ 3517 watts

1 ton ≈ 12000 BTU/h

Common appliances use the following amount of energy:

Below is a table that shows the estimated energy requirements of various appliances. (These values can vary significantly depending on the appliance.).

It’s crucial to remember that the specifications stated on the packaging of an appliance generally reflect the maximum energy requirements of the appliance. Typical usage of the appliance likely results in far lower energy use than stated, so it cannot be calculated directly as power requirement × time.