diff --git a/doc/release_notes.rst b/doc/release_notes.rst
index deed60d4..27647be7 100644
--- a/doc/release_notes.rst
+++ b/doc/release_notes.rst
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ Release Notes
 Upcoming Version
 ----------------
 
+* Add documentation about `LinearExpression.where` with `drop=True`. Add `BaseExpression.variable_names` and `BaseExpression.nvar` properties.
 * Add the `sphinx-copybutton` to the documentation
 
 Version 0.6.1
diff --git a/examples/creating-expressions.ipynb b/examples/creating-expressions.ipynb
index aafd8a09..4067018b 100644
--- a/examples/creating-expressions.ipynb
+++ b/examples/creating-expressions.ipynb
@@ -160,7 +160,11 @@
    "cell_type": "markdown",
    "id": "f7578221",
    "metadata": {},
-   "source": ".. important::\n\n\tWhen combining variables or expression with dimensions of the same name and size, the first object will determine the coordinates of the resulting expression. For example:"
+   "source": [
+    ".. important::\n",
+    "\n",
+    "\tWhen combining variables or expression with dimensions of the same name and size, the first object will determine the coordinates of the resulting expression. For example:"
+   ]
   },
   {
    "cell_type": "code",
@@ -308,6 +312,102 @@
     "(x + y).where(mask) + xr.DataArray(5, coords=[time]).where(~mask, 0)"
    ]
   },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "markdown",
+   "id": "6741e69e",
+   "metadata": {},
+   "source": [
+    "Sometimes `.where` may lead to a situation where some of the variables are completely masked"
+   ]
+  },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "code",
+   "execution_count": null,
+   "id": "fc32bdca",
+   "metadata": {},
+   "outputs": [],
+   "source": [
+    "mask_a = xr.DataArray(False, coords=[time])\n",
+    "mask_b = xr.DataArray(time > 2, coords=[time])\n",
+    "\n",
+    "z = (x.where(mask_a) + y).where(mask_b)\n",
+    "z"
+   ]
+  },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "markdown",
+   "id": "25bf798c",
+   "metadata": {},
+   "source": [
+    "In this example you can see that many of the elements of the LinearExpression are None. If you want to remove all the None terms, you can use `.where(.., drop=True)`"
+   ]
+  },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "code",
+   "execution_count": null,
+   "id": "72c6b51b",
+   "metadata": {},
+   "outputs": [],
+   "source": [
+    "z = z.where(mask_b, drop=True)\n",
+    "z"
+   ]
+  },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "markdown",
+   "id": "1c1e0b85",
+   "metadata": {},
+   "source": [
+    "That looks nicer!<br>"
+   ]
+  },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "markdown",
+   "id": "d8530a08",
+   "metadata": {},
+   "source": [
+    "You may notice that the variable `x` is not used at all. The expression still contains two terms (one of them is unused) but it only has one variable `y`"
+   ]
+  },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "code",
+   "execution_count": null,
+   "id": "1c577863",
+   "metadata": {},
+   "outputs": [],
+   "source": [
+    "z.nterm"
+   ]
+  },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "code",
+   "execution_count": null,
+   "id": "fe43d47d",
+   "metadata": {},
+   "outputs": [],
+   "source": [
+    "z.variable_names"
+   ]
+  },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "markdown",
+   "id": "a76d40b1",
+   "metadata": {},
+   "source": [
+    "You can get rid of the unused term with `.simplify()`"
+   ]
+  },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "code",
+   "execution_count": null,
+   "id": "fc27341c",
+   "metadata": {},
+   "outputs": [],
+   "source": [
+    "z = z.simplify()\n",
+    "z.nterm"
+   ]
+  },
   {
    "attachments": {},
    "cell_type": "markdown",
diff --git a/linopy/expressions.py b/linopy/expressions.py
index 10e243de..a05d9206 100644
--- a/linopy/expressions.py
+++ b/linopy/expressions.py
@@ -1071,6 +1071,38 @@ def nterm(self) -> int:
         """
         return len(self.data._term)
 
+    @property
+    def nvar(self) -> int:
+        """
+        Get the number of unique variables in the linear expression.
+        Note that nvar <= nterm, as variables can appear multiple times and there can be terms which are completely masked out.
+        """
+        return len(self.variable_names)
+
+    @property
+    def variable_names(self) -> set[str]:
+        """
+        The names of the unique variables present in the expression
+        """
+        if self.nterm == 0:
+            return set()
+
+        # Collect all unique labels from the expression (excluding -1) while preserving order
+        all_labels = self.vars.values.ravel()
+        valid_labels = all_labels[all_labels != -1]
+
+        if len(valid_labels) == 0:
+            return set()
+
+        # Get unique labels while preserving first occurrence order
+        unique_labels, first_indices = np.unique(valid_labels, return_index=True)
+        ordered_labels = unique_labels[np.argsort(first_indices)]
+
+        # Batch lookup variable names for all labels
+        positions = self.model.variables.get_label_position(ordered_labels)
+
+        return {p[0] for p in positions if p[0] is not None}
+
     @property
     def shape(self) -> tuple[int, ...]:
         """
diff --git a/test/test_linear_expression.py b/test/test_linear_expression.py
index a75ace3f..174a4c38 100644
--- a/test/test_linear_expression.py
+++ b/test/test_linear_expression.py
@@ -1313,3 +1313,53 @@ def test_simplify_partial_cancellation(x: Variable, y: Variable) -> None:
     assert all(simplified.coeffs.values == 3.0), (
         f"Expected coefficient 3.0, got {simplified.coeffs.values}"
     )
+
+
+def test_variable_names() -> None:
+    m = Model()
+    time = pd.Index(range(3), name="time")
+
+    a = m.add_variables(name="a", coords=[time])
+    b = m.add_variables(name="b", coords=[time])
+
+    expr = a + b
+    assert expr.nterm == 2
+    assert expr.variable_names == {"a", "b"}
+
+    mask = xr.DataArray(False, coords=[time])
+    expr = a + (b * 1).where(mask)
+    assert expr.nterm == 2
+    assert expr.variable_names == {"a"}
+
+    expr = (b * 1).where(mask)
+    assert expr.nterm == 1
+    assert expr.variable_names == set()
+
+    expr = LinearExpression.from_constant(model=m, constant=5)
+    assert expr.nterm == 0
+    assert expr.variable_names == set()
+
+
+def test_nvar_and_nterm() -> None:
+    m = Model()
+    time = pd.Index(range(3), name="time")
+    all_false = xr.DataArray(False, coords=[time])
+    not_0 = xr.DataArray([False, True, True], coords=[time])
+    not_1 = xr.DataArray([True, False, True], coords=[time])
+    not_2 = xr.DataArray([True, True, False], coords=[time])
+
+    a = m.add_variables(name="a", coords=[time])
+    b = m.add_variables(name="b", coords=[time])
+    c = m.add_variables(name="c", coords=[time])
+
+    expr = (a.where(not_0) + b.where(not_1) + c.where(not_2)).densify_terms()
+    assert expr.nterm == 3
+    assert expr.nvar == 3
+
+    expr = a + b.where(all_false)
+    assert expr.nterm == 2
+    assert expr.nvar == 1
+
+    expr = expr.simplify()
+    assert expr.nterm == 1
+    assert expr.nvar == 1
diff --git a/test/test_quadratic_expression.py b/test/test_quadratic_expression.py
index fc1bb25f..6cf697ba 100644
--- a/test/test_quadratic_expression.py
+++ b/test/test_quadratic_expression.py
@@ -360,3 +360,11 @@ def test_power_of_three(x: Variable) -> None:
         x**3
     with pytest.raises(TypeError):
         (x * x) * (x * x)
+
+
+def test_variable_names(x: Variable, y: Variable) -> None:
+    expr = 2 * (x * x) + 3 * y + 1
+    assert expr.variable_names == {"x", "y"}
+
+    expr = 2 * (y * y) + 1
+    assert expr.variable_names == {"y"}