In short
- The calculators run in your browser. We do not ask for your name, address, account or bill, and we do not store what you type.
- The site is free because it shows ads from Google AdSense and counts visits with Google Analytics. Google may use cookies for this.
- You can opt out of the sale or sharing of your personal information for advertising at any time with Your Privacy Choices, and your browser’s Global Privacy Control signal is honored automatically.
Calculators run in your browser
The calculations happen on your device. Your inputs are kept in the page address so you can bookmark or share a result. HomeWattCost does not store them, but like any website address they reach the web server when a page is loaded and can appear in its standard access logs, which are kept for security and operations only.
Analytics
HomeWattCost uses Google Analytics 4 to count visits and understand which tools are useful: pages viewed, which calculator, utility or plan was chosen, and similar events. It never receives what you type into a calculator. It runs in Google Consent Mode: where you have not agreed to analytics cookies, it sends only cookieless signals and sets no analytics cookies.
Advertising
The site is funded by display advertising from Google AdSense. Google and its partners may use cookies and similar technologies to show ads, including ads based on your interests, and to measure them. Ads are labeled “Advertisement”. HomeWattCost earns no commission on any plan or product and has no affiliate links.
- United States: see “Your rights under US state privacy laws” below.
- EEA, United Kingdom and Switzerland: you are asked for consent through Google’s consent management platform, certified under the IAB Transparency and Consent Framework. Until you choose, no advertising or analytics cookies are set. If you decline, you may still see ads that are not personalised.
- Elsewhere: ads and analytics may use cookies by default.
Your privacy choices
Use , also at the bottom of every page, to opt out of the sale or sharing of your personal information and of targeted advertising (US) or to change or withdraw your consent (EEA, UK and Switzerland). You can also block or delete cookies in your browser settings. Google explains how it uses information from sites that use its services at policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.
Global Privacy Control. If your browser sends the Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal, HomeWattCost treats it as a request to opt out of the sale or sharing of your personal information: ads are not personalized, no advertising data about you is sent to Google, and Google’s restricted data processing mode is turned on. You do not need to do anything else.
Your rights under US state privacy laws
This section is our notice at collection and privacy notice for residents of California and of other states with consumer privacy laws (such as Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, Texas and Oregon).
What we collect and why
- Identifiers: IP address, and cookie or device identifiers set by Google Analytics and Google AdSense. Purpose: security, counting visits, and showing and measuring ads.
- Internet activity: pages viewed and interactions with the site, such as which calculator, utility or plan was chosen. Purpose: understanding which tools are useful; advertising.
- Approximate location: derived from your IP address (region or city, not your precise location). Purpose: showing the right privacy message and relevant ads.
- What you send us by email, only if you write to us. Purpose: answering you and correcting the site.
We do not collect sensitive personal information, and we do not collect your name, address, utility account or bill. Sources: your browser, and Google as our analytics and advertising provider.
Sale and sharing
We do not sell personal information for money. Letting Google and its advertising partners use cookies to show ads based on your interests may count as “selling” or “sharing” personal information, or as “targeted advertising”, under some state laws. You can opt out at any time with Your Privacy Choices, or by sending Global Privacy Control. We do not knowingly sell or share the personal information of consumers under 16.
Your rights
Depending on your state, you can ask to know what personal information we hold about you, to get a copy, to correct it or to delete it, and you can opt out of its sale or sharing and of targeted advertising. We will not discriminate against you for using these rights. Because we do not ask for names or accounts, we usually hold nothing that identifies you beyond cookie identifiers, which you can delete in your browser.
To make a request, write to contact@homewattcost.com with the subject “Privacy request”. You can use an authorized agent; we may ask you or the agent to verify the request. We answer within 45 days. If we decline a request, you can appeal by replying to our answer with the subject “Privacy appeal”; we answer appeals within 45 days, and if you disagree with the outcome you can contact your state attorney general.
Retention
Web server access logs are kept for no more than 90 days. Emails are kept while needed to answer and correct the site. Google keeps its cookies and data under its own retention periods.
Children
HomeWattCost is a general-audience site for adults paying electricity bills. It is not directed to children under 13 and does not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, write to us and we will delete it.
Do Not Track
Browsers’ “Do Not Track” setting has no agreed meaning, so the site does not respond to it. It does honor Global Privacy Control, as described above.
Controller
HomeWattCost.com is a project in its launch phase, operated from Spain. Until the entity that will own it is registered, the data controller is the individual promoter of the project; this section will then be updated with the company’s legal name, tax ID and address. Contact: contact@homewattcost.com.
Legal bases (EEA, UK and Switzerland)
- Cookies and similar technologies for analytics and advertising: your consent. Elsewhere, our legitimate interest in funding a free site, subject to the opt-outs above.
- Web server access logs (IP address, page address, browser, time): our legitimate interest in keeping the site secure and working.
- Messages you send us: our legitimate interest in answering and correcting the site.
International transfers
Google processes analytics and advertising data in the United States and other countries. Where personal data from the EEA is transferred, Google relies on the EU–US Data Privacy Framework and on the European Commission’s standard contractual clauses.
Your rights under the GDPR
You can ask for access to, correction, erasure or restriction of your personal data, object to its processing, ask for portability, and withdraw consent at any time (see Your Privacy Choices). Write to contact@homewattcost.com. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection authority; in Spain, the Agencia Española de Protección de Datos (aepd.es).
Changes
We will update this policy when the site or the law changes; the date at the top shows the last update.