Is this possible?

[KaraBoo]

I'm looking for some suggestions and advice here. I'm turning the upper level of my house into an in-law suite. The house will continue to have a single electric meter. Is there any possible way to track how much electric is being used per month in that zone of the house though? I'm trying to come up with a way to fairly change for the electric they use without paying their extra every month. Is there any way to do this?

Thank you very much!

[Billy_Bob]

Probably the easiest thing would be to charge them by however much *more* your electric bill is than it would normally be.

If you could monitor this over a period of several months and come up with a percentage, then that would keep things fair in the future when you had any electric rate increases.

Otherwise you would need to route all the wiring through some sort of electric meter and total this up monthly.

AND... There is nothing so complex as an electric bill! There are base amount rates which are lower, then the rate goes up after a certain amount of use, then an allowance for lower rates for an electric water heater in some cases - up to a certain amount, then transmission charges, taxes which could be a percentage or a set fee per customer, or the taxes could be tiered depending on how much electricity is used, etc.

So if you use a small amount of electricity, the rate per kWh will be cheaper than what you will be charged for beyond that basic amount.

Here is an example...
http://www.ehow.com/how_4848095_anal...tric-bill.html

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Is there any way to do this?

Not unless it is wired seperately from the rest of the house including HVAC and hot water.

Do a square footage thing or number of residents.

[hj]

IF that area of the house can be isolated, AND your utility does not have prohibitions against "reselling" electricity, you could install your own meter, in a remote location away from the power company's, and calculate it each month. It would probably not be economically feasible however, and a set amount might be easier. If you like the In-laws set it low, if not charge more.