|
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q: How will Energy Watchdog help me reduce my utility bills?
A: Energy Watchdog performs analysis on your utility billing data and provides reports which will help you find billing errors on past utility bills for which you can negotiate refunds from your utility companies. Energy Watchdog also helps you find existing utility use problems and other opportunities to reduce future utility bills. The following are some of the issues that Energy Watchdog helps you with:
 Account Ownership Issues | Estimated Accounts |
| Malfunctioning Meters | Malfunctioning Equipment |
| Incorrect Meter Reads | Misapplied Meter Multipliers |
| Inefficient Use in Facilities (waste) | Electric Demand Billing Problems |
| Peak Demand Savings Opportunities | Miscalculated Bills |
| Incorrect Rates | Misapplied Rates |
| Water Leaks | Power Factor Issues where relevant |
| Oil Bill / Propane Anomalies (non-metered utilities) | Utility Tax Issues |
| Duplicate Bills | Cost Per Sq Foot Anomalies |
- Q: What utilities does Energy Watchdog track?
A: Energy Watchdog tracks electric, natural gas, fuel oil, propane, trash/waste, water/sewer, recycling, cable, internet, and telephone bills. Additional utility types are currently being added.
- Q: How much billing data on a utility bill can Energy Watchdog track?
A: Energy Watchdog provides two levels of tracking. The basic level allows you to track billing periods, total consumption, demand (for electric bills), and cost. The advanced level allows you to track the basic level information plus additional details such as on-off peak data, taxes, service charges, generation charges, transition charges, distribution charges, power factor etc.
- Q: How does my utility bill data get entered into Energy Watchdog?
A: 95% of utility bills are hard copy bills. On a periodic basis you will easily and quickly manually enter the relevant information from those bills into Energy Watchdog or we can do it for you manually or electronically, if an electronic file can be obtained from your utility company.
- Q: How can I import historical billing data into Energy Watchdog from my current energy tracking system?
A: Due to the complexities of transferring data from one system to another, we will perform this function for you.
Just provide us with an ASCII delimited file in the format that we require. We'll import your data and perform testing to make sure your output is accurate and that you get the most value possible out of the system. Electronic import of historical data can reduce your cost to enter historical billing data by up to 80%.
-
Q: Is my data backed up?
A: Yes. Your data is backed up and stored both on-site at the server facility and at a separate remote location.
-
Q: Can I export my data?
A: Yes. Energy Watchdog allows you to export your data to a your favorite spreadsheet any time you desire.
-
Q: How is Energy Watchdog better than a PC based system?
A: Remote facility managers can access their utility use and cost information direct via the Internet and run their own reports at any time thereby making utility management decisions at each facility more timely and effective. A centralized PC based system typically requires costly and delayed central generation and distribution of reports to remote facility managers.
Energy Watchdog is hosted on a powerful web based computer where all system maintenance issues are addressed easily and quickly. Your cost to administer a utility/energy tracking system is reduced as Internal IT staff and users are not required to install updates or revisions, manage network requirements, or perform system and data backups. In addition, no software (except for a web browser) is required to use the system.
-
Q: How many users from my organization can use Energy Watchdog?
A: Currently there is no limitation on the number of users in your organization who can use Energy Watchdog. You designate a primary user who approves access for other users in your organization.
-
Q: How can I get Energy Watchdog up and running quickly?
A: Energy Watchdog requires various kinds of utility billing information be entered in order for the system to provide benefit. You can do this yourself or you can save time and money by taking advantage of our Energy Watchdog Services that we provide for a reasonable fee. Our Energy Watchdog Assistant Launch service can set up your accounts, buildings, and vendors and enter related information that Energy Watchdog uses to provide monthly consumption and cost analysis reports. We will enter historical bills for your accounts. We can use hard copy bills, printouts from utility companies, or historical billing information stored in other databases or utility/energy tracking systems. Our Energy Watchdog Assistant service can enter your monthly bills for you as you go forward month to month using the Energy Watchdog service. Just forward your bills via fax or mail each month and we will enter all relevant use and cost information into Energy Watchdog
-
Q: What kind of technical support is provided to help me use Energy Watchdog?
A: Email and telephone support are available free of charge the entire time you are a customer of the service. Just email us at support@energywatchdog.com. (If you call us with a technical question a few months down the line, don't worry; we will be glad to assist you).
In addition, Help Bulletins are posted in the Energy Watchdog Help Area.
-
Q: What kind of training is provided to help me set up and use Energy Watchdog?
A: We will provide you with one hour of telephone based training where we will walk you through the system.
-
Q: How private and secure is Energy Watchdog?
A: Click here to read our Privacy and Security Statement.
-
Q: How much does Energy Watchdog cost?
A: Click here to read how much Energy Watchdog costs.
-
Q: What are the terms of service for using Energy Watchdog?
A: Click here to read the Energy Watchdog Terms of Service.
-
Q: Questions about Energy Watchdog?
A: Click here and we'll be glad to assist you.
|
