Most homeowners have a rough sense that their bill is high, but don't know exactly what's driving it. The answer is usually simpler than you'd expect: a handful of things account for most of what you use, and everything else is noise around the edges. Once you know which ones matter in your home, you can make smart decisions about how to power them.
The big ones
Home electricity use isn't spread evenly. A few systems do the heavy lifting, and in most homes, they look like this.
- Heating and air conditioning. For homes that run on electric heat or air conditioning, this is usually the single biggest draw. It's also the most seasonal, which is why bills often spike in the hottest and coldest months rather than staying flat all year.
- Water heating. Heating water is one of the steadier loads in a house. If your water heater runs on electricity, it works every day of the year, and it adds up quietly in the background.
- EV charging. If you charge an electric car at home, it's likely one of your largest single power users, and for some households, it's the largest. A car battery holds far more energy than anything else you plug in, and most of that charging happens at home.
- Pool and well pumps. These are big in our part of the world. A pool pump running several hours a day, or a well pump on a rural property, can rival a home's other major loads. They're easy to overlook because they run out of sight.
- The refrigerator. Not the biggest, but it never stops. Running around the clock, every day of the year, makes it a steady baseline load in every home.
- The dryer. Electric dryers pull a lot of power while they run. They're not on for many hours a week, so the annual total stays moderate, but there's a real spike whenever they're going.
Why your bill jumps in some months
If your bill swings through the year, your biggest seasonal loads are usually the reason. Air conditioning during a North Bay heat wave can add up quickly, and electric heat does the same in the coldest months. Everything else, the refrigerator, the water heater, the pumps, hums along at roughly the same rate all year.
That pattern is worth noticing, because it tells you something useful: your bill isn't creeping up because of some mystery. It's usually one or two big loads doing more work in a particular season.
The ones people overestimate
Lighting used to account for a significant share of a home's power, but LEDs changed that. Modern lighting uses a fraction of what old bulbs did, so it's rarely a major line item anymore.
Electronics is the same story. A TV, a laptop, a phone charger, and the various things that sit on standby do use power, and it's worth switching off what you're not using. But those small loads combined usually don't come close to a water heater or an EV. If you're trying to move the needle on your bill, start with the big ones.
Your home is its own case
Every home is different, and averages only get you so far. A household with an EV, a pool, and electric water heating uses a completely different amount and a different shape of power than a home without any of those. What you have, how many people live there, and how you use the house all change the picture.
The good news is you don't have to guess. Your PG&E account includes a detailed usage history showing exactly how much you use and when. It's the real answer for your home, not an estimate, and our walkthrough on how to gather your PG&E usage history shows you how to pull it.
When you use it matters too
There's a second half to this, and it's a big one in California. PG&E charges different rates at different times of day, with the highest rates in the late afternoon and evening. So your bill isn't just about how much you use. It's about when.
That's worth knowing because your biggest loads often land in exactly those expensive hours. You get home, the AC kicks on, dinner starts, and the car goes on the charger. All of it hits when power is most expensive.
Where solar and a battery come in
This is why we start every project by looking at your actual usage. When we design a solar system, we size it to your home's actual energy use rather than a rule of thumb, so it's built for your life rather than a generic house.
Adding battery storage covers the timing side. Your panels produce most of their power in the middle of the day, and a battery holds that surplus so your home can run on it through the evening, when your biggest loads come on, and rates are highest. Instead of buying power at the priciest time, you use your own.
And as more of your home runs on electricity, your usage grows, which makes covering it with your own power that much more valuable. Knowing what is used the most is the first step. Deciding how to power it is the next step.
We've been designing systems around real usage across Marin, Sonoma, and Napa since 1984. We're 100% employee-owned, we've installed more than 9,000 systems, and we're licensed as a General Contractor (B) and Electrical Contractor (C-10). We were also one of the first companies in California to earn the state's C-46 solar license, so you have a local team that knows exactly how to size a system for your home.
Want to know what it would take to cover your usage? Contact SolarCraft or call Sonoma/Napa 707.778.0568 or Marin 415.382.7717.
