Begin with a baseline, not a target
Before changing anything, collect a few weeks of normal electricity use and, ideally, a full year of bills. Note major changes such as a new heat pump, electric vehicle, added occupants or time spent working from home. One unusually warm week or a holiday does not represent the whole household. The first goal is to understand your pattern, not to force it to match someone else’s house.
Separate energy from cost. The bill can include fixed charges and other items that a drop in kWh will not remove. Rate options and time periods can also change the value of moving a load. Use the current tariff from your electricity distributor when a financial decision is being considered.
Look for patterns you can explain
An overnight baseline is the power the home uses when most people are asleep. Refrigeration, ventilation, network equipment and standby devices may all contribute. A flat line that is higher than expected is a clue to investigate, but not a verdict. Compare similar nights and consider which systems are meant to run continuously.
Daily peaks are also worth understanding. A short cooking spike is different from an appliance that draws modest power all day. For energy use, duration matters as much as the highest number on a graph. For battery backup, the highest simultaneous demand also matters because the inverter must supply it.
Compare like with like
Electric heating and cooling make weather a major variable. Compare this October with a similar season rather than with a mild spring month. A cold snap may increase a heat pump’s electricity use even when the system is working correctly. If the home also uses gas, an electricity graph alone cannot describe total household energy.
A fair before and after check documents the date of a change, the equipment involved and any different weather or occupancy. It is easy to claim savings from a dashboard by looking at two isolated days. It is harder, but more useful, to follow the same measure over several comparable weeks.
Solar makes the picture more complicated
A utility meter may show only what crossed the property boundary. If rooftop solar is powering appliances at the same moment, some electricity never reaches that meter. To understand total home demand you may need both the inverter production reading and grid import or export. If a battery is added, charging and discharging create another flow to label clearly.
Do not add dashboard numbers blindly. Some apps label solar generation, household consumption and export differently; the same energy can appear in more than one chart. Ask the installer to demonstrate a sunny daytime example, a night example and a battery charging example so the household can interpret the screen later.
Turn a graph into one decision at a time
A useful review ends with an action you can test. Examples include moving a flexible load to a different time, checking a heater that cycles unexpectedly, or confirming that a freezer remains within its normal pattern. Change one thing, record it and review again. If the signal is too small to see or the household routine becomes inconvenient, the change may not be worthwhile.
Share only the detail each person needs. A simple daily summary may be enough for most users, while an installer may need circuit data to diagnose a problem. Monitoring is most valuable when it reduces uncertainty and supports maintenance, not when it creates another stream of alerts.
CHECK THE SOURCE
Official reading
Programs, equipment and requirements can change. These sources provide current technical and Ontario program details to check before a project.
This is a planning guide, not an installation procedure or a savings guarantee. Have the roof, electrical service, distributor connection and battery design assessed for the actual property. Reviewed 12 October 2026.
