What is a light bill?
Every month, JPS (the Jamaica Public Service Company) sends your home a bill. It says how much electricity you used, measured in units called kWh, and how many Jamaican dollars your family owes. The more you run fans, the fridge, the TV, and lights, the bigger the number. A light bill is a real grown-up money worry, and now you can help.
A forecast is a prediction about the future made from past numbers. Weather people forecast rain. You are about to forecast a light bill!
Three little AI methods, all at once
Remember, a computer predicts by looking at past numbers and spotting the pattern. There is more than one way to do it, so our calculator uses three and shows you all their guesses:
AR is short for auto-regression. It is a clever one: it learns how each bill is linked to the bill right before it, then uses your newest bill to guess the next. Good forecasters look at all three, then decide. You will also see one blended guess that mixes them.
The calculator
With a grown-up, find your recent JPS bills, oldest first. For each one, type the units used (kWh) and the amount (J$). The rows start blank: fill in at least three bills, press ๏ผ Add another bill for more, then press Predict my next bill. No bills handy? Press Use example bills to see how it works. Everything runs right here on this page.
Homework The Light-Bill Forecaster โก
Type your bills, press the button, and watch three AI methods guess next month. Then read the comment and pick the guess you trust.
| Bill | Units used (kWh) | Amount (J$) |
|---|
Jamaica is in a heatwave right now, and heat is the number one reason light bills jump: fans and air conditioners run for hours, and the fridge works extra hard. Predicting the bill is step one. Shrinking it is step two. Try these with your family:
- Turn off lights, the TV, and the fan when you leave a room.
- If you use an air conditioner, set it no colder than 24ยฐC, and close the doors and windows.
- Open curtains for daylight instead of switching on lights.
- Unplug chargers and game consoles when nobody is using them.
Send your prediction to a grown-up
Last step! Type your first name and a grown-up's email, pick the guess you trust most, and press send. Your grown-up gets your forecast so you can check next month how close you were.
- You made a real forecast of a real light bill, using three AI methods at once.
- You saw that different methods give different guesses, so smart forecasters compare them.
- You learned that predicting the bill is step one, and saving electricity is how you change it.
๐ฎ 3D Vox game: Light Predictor
Prediction practice with a light you CAN predict! Learn the red-light rhythm and press GO the instant you think green arrives.
One lesson left: the quiz and your certificate!