High electric bills

Posted by on January 26, 2007, 1:31 pm

Some background:
I rent a 50yr old small house that has natural gas for heat and water,
electric everything else. We have had high electric bills for a few
years now (avg 60kwh/day usage) which we attributed to a bunch of old
appliances.

We recently replaced the fridge and freezer with new high energy ones,
had a broken stove for two months, and do, as a high average, 8 loads
of laundry a month with older appliances. However, we still see a 50
kwh/day average, which is high according to neighbours and the electric
company. We have had the meter checked and replaced, with no help in
solving this problem. I've had an electrician come in and he can't
find anything out of the ordinary.

The electric company claims that having old windows and doors can cause
this problem. However, since we are heated by natural gas, I don't
understand this logic (Can someone explain please?)

I have run out of ideas, can anyone help point me in another direction
with suggestions as to what to look for next? Thanks.

Posted by on January 26, 2007, 1:45 pm

Your furnace uses electricity too.

Posted by Chris Friesen on January 26, 2007, 2:11 pm

snappydragon@gmail.com wrote:

> We recently replaced the fridge and freezer with new high energy ones,
> had a broken stove for two months, and do, as a high average, 8 loads
> of laundry a month with older appliances. However, we still see a 50
> kwh/day average, which is high according to neighbours and the electric
> company. We have had the meter checked and replaced, with no help in
> solving this problem. I've had an electrician come in and he can't
> find anything out of the ordinary.

Maybe get a clamp ammeter and start measuring current draw on the
various circuits?

Chris

Posted by Doug Miller on January 26, 2007, 2:13 pm

snappydragon@gmail.com wrote:

>Some background:
>I rent a 50yr old small house that has natural gas for heat and water,
>electric everything else. We have had high electric bills for a few
>years now (avg 60kwh/day usage) which we attributed to a bunch of old
>appliances.

That's pretty high. Old appliances definitely are less energy-efficient than
ones of more recent manufacture, and that wasn't helping you.

Renting, hmmmm? Do you by any chance live in a duplex? If so, it's
possible that part of your neighbor's half might be powered from *your* panel.

>We recently replaced the fridge and freezer with new high energy ones,
>had a broken stove for two months, and do, as a high average, 8 loads
>of laundry a month with older appliances.

Electric dryers use a lot of electricity... but 2 loads a week isn't very
much usage.

> However, we still see a 50
>kwh/day average, which is high according to neighbours and the electric
>company. We have had the meter checked and replaced, with no help in
>solving this problem. I've had an electrician come in and he can't
>find anything out of the ordinary.

The electrician is a boob. He should have at least been able to tell you
exactly what appliance was responsible for the high usage. Hope you didn't pay
him too much.

>The electric company claims that having old windows and doors can cause
>this problem. However, since we are heated by natural gas, I don't
>understand this logic (Can someone explain please?)

Sure -- furnace uses electricity to run the blower, even though gas is
providing the heat. The more heat you use, the more the blower the runs.

>I have run out of ideas, can anyone help point me in another direction
>with suggestions as to what to look for next? Thanks.

Shut off all your branch circuit breakers, but leave the main breaker on. Go
outside and look at your electric meter. It had better be stopped. If it's
still spinning, even slowly, call an electrician -- NOT the same one as last
time -- and have him find out why.

Turn the first breaker back on, and go back outside and look at the meter.
Observe how fast it's spinning. Now go back inside and turn that breaker off
again.

Repeat for each individual branch circuit breaker.

(If you have fuses instead of circuit breakers, replace "remove the fuse" for
"shut off the breaker" in the above.)

Whichever one causes the meter to spin the fastest when turned on is the
breaker (or fuse) for the circuit with the heaviest load on it; next fastest,
next highest load, and so on. The two or three most heavily loaded circuits
are the ones causing your bill to be so high, and whatever is on those
circuits is the culprit(s).

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

Posted by jackson on January 26, 2007, 8:19 pm

>>Some background:
>>I rent a 50yr old small house that has natural gas for heat and water,
>>electric everything else. We have had high electric bills for a few
>>years now (avg 60kwh/day usage) which we attributed to a bunch of old
>>appliances.

> That's pretty high. Old appliances definitely are less energy-efficient
> than
> ones of more recent manufacture, and that wasn't helping you.
> Renting, hmmmm? Do you by any chance live in a duplex? If so, it's
> possible that part of your neighbor's half might be powered from *your*
> panel.

>>We recently replaced the fridge and freezer with new high energy ones,
>>had a broken stove for two months, and do, as a high average, 8 loads
>>of laundry a month with older appliances.

> Electric dryers use a lot of electricity... but 2 loads a week isn't very
> much usage.

>> However, we still see a 50
>>kwh/day average, which is high according to neighbours and the electric
>>company. We have had the meter checked and replaced, with no help in
>>solving this problem. I've had an electrician come in and he can't
>>find anything out of the ordinary.

> The electrician is a boob. He should have at least been able to tell you
> exactly what appliance was responsible for the high usage. Hope you didn't
> pay
> him too much.

>>The electric company claims that having old windows and doors can cause
>>this problem. However, since we are heated by natural gas, I don't
>>understand this logic (Can someone explain please?)

> Sure -- furnace uses electricity to run the blower, even though gas is
> providing the heat. The more heat you use, the more the blower the runs.

>>I have run out of ideas, can anyone help point me in another direction
>>with suggestions as to what to look for next? Thanks.

> Shut off all your branch circuit breakers, but leave the main breaker on.
> Go
> outside and look at your electric meter. It had better be stopped. If it's
> still spinning, even slowly, call an electrician -- NOT the same one as
> last
> time -- and have him find out why.
> Turn the first breaker back on, and go back outside and look at the meter.
> Observe how fast it's spinning. Now go back inside and turn that breaker
> off
> again.
> Repeat for each individual branch circuit breaker.
> (If you have fuses instead of circuit breakers, replace "remove the fuse"
> for
> "shut off the breaker" in the above.)
> Whichever one causes the meter to spin the fastest when turned on is the
> breaker (or fuse) for the circuit with the heaviest load on it; next
> fastest,
> next highest load, and so on. The two or three most heavily loaded
> circuits
> are the ones causing your bill to be so high, and whatever is on those
> circuits is the culprit(s).

Good plan about going to the panel box and checking each circuit but.....
since you are renting and you didn't say if it is a multi unit dwelling. If
it is a multi unit there is a good possibility you are paying for
electricity in the common areas or another apartment. First basic check
would be to see if there is a meter for each apartment and one for the
common areas. Then turn off that main breaker when your fellow tenants are
home and see if anyone loses power. You might want to make sure your
neighbors don't have any mission or life critical things running on
electricity before trying this experiment though!

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