Hi,
I've decided to switch out my pencil&paper tracking of my power consumption at home to a digital version.
This is a personal project so no pressure, but still, I wouldn’t be myself if I didn’t try to push my Excel software to the max
I have some idea’s with time filters, comparisons I’d like, warnings when I consumed too much power in a certain time, …
But my problem lies with the fact that I am very irregular in checking the meter stand. So it’s not like each 7 days that I head down in my cellar to note the current status. For example sake:
[pre]
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So you see, the days between each status is irregular, yet I’d still like to get a feel for time in my comparisons, preferably over a 1 year period.
I was thinking about a few methods:
- Bar / Line chart combo. A bar at the date of the update, and then a line between updates to help me visualise a rise/drop in usage during that period.
- Standard table with an extra column showing difference compared to past update & difference in daily usage (so dividing the usage by the number of days for that period = daily usage)
On paper I used the latter approach. I jotted down what the difference was and unless that was a significant spike (example: water usage -> could be a leak) I don’t have to take actions
(and yes, I'm pushing this onto my water & gas usage as well
)
So to sum it up in one question:
How would you compare data in time with different time intervals?
Grtz,
B
I've decided to switch out my pencil&paper tracking of my power consumption at home to a digital version.
This is a personal project so no pressure, but still, I wouldn’t be myself if I didn’t try to push my Excel software to the max
I have some idea’s with time filters, comparisons I’d like, warnings when I consumed too much power in a certain time, …
But my problem lies with the fact that I am very irregular in checking the meter stand. So it’s not like each 7 days that I head down in my cellar to note the current status. For example sake:
[pre]
Code:
Date | status
01-jan-2013 | 100
05-jan-2013 | 110
18-jan-2013 | 130
06-feb-2013 | 180
So you see, the days between each status is irregular, yet I’d still like to get a feel for time in my comparisons, preferably over a 1 year period.
I was thinking about a few methods:
- Bar / Line chart combo. A bar at the date of the update, and then a line between updates to help me visualise a rise/drop in usage during that period.
- Standard table with an extra column showing difference compared to past update & difference in daily usage (so dividing the usage by the number of days for that period = daily usage)
On paper I used the latter approach. I jotted down what the difference was and unless that was a significant spike (example: water usage -> could be a leak) I don’t have to take actions
So to sum it up in one question:
How would you compare data in time with different time intervals?
Grtz,
B