How To: Calculate kWh Totals

Calculating kWh Totals from cumulative .csv exports

Overview

This article covers how to calculate kWh totals from a meter or eGuard .csv export. Some additional methods of viewing kWh totals in the interface are briefly covered at the end of the article.

While configured Power registers can be used to view instantaneous readings (i.e. how much power is being used right now by a configured load) the same register can be used to calculate load usage over a period of time.

This method can be used for any register type that makes sense as an accrued value. Note that this method is not appropriate for readings like temperature, wind speed or other readings that only make sense as instantaneous values.

Prerequisites

Before beginning, you should be familiar with the register configuration of your eGauge meter(s) and what is being monitored.

The configuration should contain at least one Power [P] register to calculate kWh.

Instructions

Step 1: Run a cumulative data export either from the meter interface or from the eGuard Portfolio Manager. Cumulative exports will give you the most accurate data for billing purposes. Please see the correct documentation below if you are unfamiliar with exporting meter data:

Meter level data exports, Modern interface: How To: Export Data to a Spreadsheet
Meter level data exports, Classic interface: How To: Export Data to a Spreadsheet (Classic)
eGuard Portfolio Mass CSV Export: How To: Perform a Mass CSV Export

Step 2: Open the downloaded file in your preferred spreadsheet software.

Cumulative data exports will show values that change over the interval specified when the export was done. In other words, each column in the spreadsheet will show the values for a configured register, and each row will be a total reading taken at specific times spaced apart at the interval chosen in the export.

Depending on the export process used, your values may begin at 0 or may begin at an arbitrary value.

Step 3: Calculate kWh totals for the entire export period by taking the difference between the starting and ending values. This can be done row-by-row if you want to know the change in value for each ‘interval’ period in your export.

Example:

The image above shows an example data export from a meter's Solar register reading for the month of August. The Interval on the export was set to ‘1 week’ so each of the rows in the spreadsheet is timestamped 1 week later than the row above it.

To calculate the Solar production value between 8/1/2025 and 9/1/2025 calculate the difference between the values shown for those dates:

44138.0211105555 - 34779.7164413888 = 9,358.3046691667 kWh

We can see the same accrued value for the same time period when viewed on the eGauge Chart view:

Other Methods

For applications such as tenant billing where there is a need to calculate very precise monthly totals for many registers on a regular basis, the .csv Data Export will be the most efficient way to complete this task.

In cases where there is only the occasional need to view a total for a specific load, or there is no billing involved the meter interface has some simpler methods for viewing cumulative readings.

Note: There may be some rounding with the following methods. For billing purposes the .CSV download calculation covered in the previous section is preferred.

Viewing totals on the Chart

Cumulative values can be viewed in the Chart View by setting the time period to view in the upper right Time Period drop-down menu, and choosing ‘Accrued’ at the bottom as shown:

Each visible chart item will show the accrued value for the time period represented in the chart area. For more detail about customizing and navigating the Chart view please see: Chart View

Viewing totals in the Dashboard View

When using the Dashboard View, the Summary Table Dashlet is a helpful addition for viewing cumulative totals for selected loads:

This example shows a Summary Table dashlet displaying the same data we calculated from the .csv export

For more information about how to configure the Dashboard View and Dashlets please see: Dashboard View

Viewing totals in the Almanac View

The Almanac View can be configured to view a single load totals over longer periods. The example below shows the monthly value for the Solar register. The value we calculated for the month of August in previous examples is shown in the red box:

For more detail on using and configuring the Almanac view, please see: Almanac View

Additional Resources

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