High electric bills

Posted by Edwin Pawlowski on January 26, 2007, 2:16 pm

High according to my calculations too. That translates to over $300 where I
live. I have two fridges, freezer, wine cooler, two computers, HDTV, a
kitchen light that is on 365/24, normal home lighitng and even in winter, my
last bill was $144 at our new rate of 18¢

> 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?)

The heater is using electricity also, but it should not add up to what you
are using. Eight loads a month in the dryer is not a big deal either, about
what we do too for just two of us. Be su re hte dryer vint is working
properly as that is an energy hog.

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

There is a "Kill-a-watt" meter that you can plug in and then plug your
appliances into. It gives a reading of energy use. It may pay you to track
down some individual users. Another trick is to turn everything off and
unplug some appliances and see if the meter is still turning. It has
happened that the house next door had a line tapped in, the apartment above,
etc. Strange, but it has happened.

Posted by Edwin Pawlowski on January 26, 2007, 10:47 pm

> High according to my calculations too. That translates to over $300 where
> I live. I have two fridges, freezer, wine cooler, two computers, HDTV, a
> kitchen light that is on 365/24, normal home lighitng and even in winter,
> my last bill was $144 at our new rate of 18¢

Following up on my own post, I'm home now and looked at the actual bill.
My typical average use is 21 kWh. Even last August with three air
conditioners running, the average was only 44 kWh. You have a serious user.

Do you have city or well water? If you are on a well, perhaps the pump is
running non-stop for some reason. Please report back with whatever you
find. My guess is you will find some serious problem that is very out of
the ordinary.

Posted by Speedy Jim on January 26, 2007, 2:20 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.
>
> 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.
>

Even if the furnace fan was running 24 X 7, that might add ~500 KWhr
for the entire month. That still leaves a whopping 1000 KWhr !

The electric meter rotor must be spinning at a good clip to
record so much consumption. Go stand by the meter and have someone
flip breakers off till it suddenly slows noticeably. Play detective
from there.

Jim

Posted by m Ransley on January 26, 2007, 11:54 pm

50-60 a day, I have a computer or tv on all the time in a house and
never use more than 200kwh in a month. Get a Kill-A-Watt meter to check
apliances. Get a digital read out clamp on, one that goes to.01 , a
Greenlee for 35$ not at Box stores, Now check everything apliances on
and off, you might have a short also. If so get help and be carefull of
the ground. You need to do your own audit. Do you use CFLs

Posted by # Fred # on January 26, 2007, 4:08 pm

Years ago my FIL complained to me, after he had complained numerous times to
the utility company, about his high electric bills thinking that I could
find the problem. After looking at his electrical setup I couldn't find any
major problems with either his usage habits or any problem with his
appliances. There was no drop in his billing after he replace the
refrigerator, washing machine or trying to conserve energy the best he
could. The poor guy was just was so fearful about flipping any of his
appliances on anticipating to be clobbered by the next billing cycle. As
expected, the high charges continued for a few more months until I realized
he was charged from the wrong meter. It turn out for many years PG&E
(Pacific Gas & Electric) was billing him from the wrong meter for usage from
a much larger apartment even though the correct apartment number was clearly
painted on the correct main meter panel. You see the larger apartment got
such a small utility charge for electricity that they didn't care about
conservation which made it even worse for my FIL.

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