Frequently Asked Questions

If you have a question about us or our services, please contact us and we will get you an answer. From time to time, other questions will be added to this list.

General Questions

Does SVEC serve my location?

If you're moving to the area, or moving homes within the area, you may wonder if SVEC serves your new location. Boundary lines are drawn and regulated by the State Corporation Commission, meaning electric providers such as SVEC have defined areas to provide service. It's common to have multiple providers serving a single road, based on how the lines are drawn. Please contact the cooperative at 1-800-234-7832 if you are unsure about your location.

Electric Meter Questions

What is a kilowatt-hour?

A kilowatt-hour (kWh) is a unit of electrical energy equal to the energy delivered by the flow of one kilowatt (1,000 watts) of electrical power for one hour. For example, a 100-watt bulb burning for 10 hours will use one kilowatt-hour of energy.

How do I know my meter is accurate?

Members frequently assume there must be something wrong with their electric meter if they receive a larger-than-expected electric bill. The fact is, electric meters are very reliable devices. Before a meter is installed, we test the meter for accuracy. Upon request, Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative will test a member’s meter for accuracy for a nominal fee.

Billing Questions

What are some causes of higher-than-normal bills?

If you receive a bill that is higher than normal, consider the weather during the billing period. The hottest and coldest times of the year will lead to more electric use, and then affect your bill. Another factor could be how many days of service were included in that billing period. If you have added a major appliance or altered your lifestyle in some way, that would also account for the increased usage.

Lighting Questions

Can I do anything to reduce my lighting costs?

Use only the amount of light you need.

For maximum lighting efficiency use a higher lumen-per-watt bulb. Watts measure the amount of energy going into a bulb. Lumens measure the light output or brightness of a bulb. This information is printed on bulb packages. To determine efficiency, divide the lumens by the watts of electricity used.

For example, the efficiency of a 100-watt bulb measuring 1710 lumens would be 17.1 lumens-per-watt.

Appliance Questions

How do I calculate the electricity costs for my appliances?

To find your monthly cost to operate each appliance, multiply the total kilowatt-hours used by the current energy rate (approximately 11 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh)).

For example, if you have an appliance that uses 3 kWh per month and an energy rate of 11 cent per kWh the cost would be 33 cents per month.

You can also use our appliance calculator to estimate the monthly and annual costs of using appliances in your home.

How do I determine how much energy (kWh) an appliance uses?

You can use our appliance calculator to estimate the monthly and annual costs of using appliances in your home.

To manually calculate the amount of kilowatt-hours, you need 3 pieces of information.

First, look at the name plate on the appliance. You are looking for a number with a “W” beside it. This stands for wattage. Some appliances provide the amperage (A) and voltage (V) in place of the wattage. To get wattage, simply multiply amps times volts. An example is a 120 V heater rated at 12.5 amps. This equals 1500 watts.

Now to determine kilowatt-hours, you need to take the length of time (in hours) an appliance operates. Take watts and multiply by the hours of operation. Using our heater example above we have 1500 watts times the number of hours of use. If we use that heater for 2 hours we have 3000 watt-hours of electricity used.

To convert watt-hours to kilowatt-hours you must divide by 1000. Therefore, our 1500-watt heater operating for two hours used 3 kilowatt-hours.

 

Energy Saving Questions