What Happens to Your Utility Bill When You Start Working from Home (Remote Work)

Here’s a six month look at how my natural gas and electricity bills have increased since I started to work from home.

This analysis is looking at August 2018 through January 2019 compared to August 2019 through January 2020 the period when I started remote work from home. During this period my electricity and gas bills were 33% higher than when I had an office gig.

Obviously these numbers don’t tell the whole story. My family has some new appliances and a new baby. There are temperature differences that will impact heating and cooling costs as well. Your house size and local climate will impact your own energy usage, but here are my stats.

Let’s Start With Natural Gas

I have a programable thermostat that used to turn down the heat when I went to the office. Now in the house, I’m essentially keeping it warm 24-7, so it’s a bit surprising there isn’t a huge surge in Natural Gas usage.

Working from home, I’ve also used the natural gas for cooking lunch, and warm water for hand washing, so again the increase isn’t too big considering, or too surprising.

Electricity Bills Pre and Post Remote Work

Over this period my electricity bill went up by 50%, oh my! To be fair, August and September include the use of a second window AC unit we didn’t have the year prior for our daughter’s room. It’s an upstairs room that gets warm even on mild but sunny days so the AC was used frequently.

The electricity toll of remote work includes lighting, the fan in the furnace, computers, computer monitors, and other accessories. One thing for me to think about is fully switching to LEDs; at this time I’m waiting for several halogen bulbs to burn out. I could also forgo the constant use of my second computer monitor when not needed.

Though I’m spending 33% more on energy, the cash difference over 6 months is $227, or an average of $38 / month. This is real money, but it doesn’t make working from home cost prohibitive. People in much colder or hotter climates may feel differently.

See the data used in this report in excel.

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