electric bill

[Jslys13]

I moved into a new home Oct 10 or this year. My first electric bill was for 27 days. And I used 517 kwh in that 27 days. I get my second bill yesterday and it says I used 1179 kwh. This was for 30 days. I call the electric company and they said the first month I average 20 kwh per day and the second month I used 30 kwh a day. I asked about the meter being miss read and had me read the meter to him and he said it appears the meter was read right. It was read on the Dec 5th and when I gave him the reading yesterday and said from the 5th to the 9th I averaged 49 kwh. The only thing that has changed was the Xmas tree has been up for a few days and it gets plugged in for a few hours a day. I just don't understand how it could jump this much. I asked them how many kwh was used last December and they said around 850. Any ideas what could cause an increase like this? I have a well and a sump pump that don't seem to be running anymore than the last month. Nothing new has been used. The furnace had ran a little more but I wouldn't think that it ran that much to increase the bill that much, it's a 92%. I have propane stove, heat, and hot water. Any help would be great.

 

[TAMPAGT07]

You'd better check your son's bedroom, sounds like he's got a growhouse set up in there...

 

[the gypsy]

Being on the GJ, a member has to ask, did you buy any new electrical tools or battery power tools (you know they have to be recharged lol) that you played with and forgot?

 

[KnightFire]

Both months were actual readings and not "estimates," right? I know PotEd does same crazy stuff with their estimates.

 

[Backpack Hunter]

Check the draw of your major appliances. Had a refr. that sucked the power one month.

 

[Jslys13]

Being on the GJ, a member has to ask, did you buy any new electrical tools or battery power tools (you know they have to be recharged lol) that you played with and forgot?

The only thing new is a 32 inch led tv that is maybe on a few hours a week.

 

[bcbsox]

What's your heat source? If you have a heat pump, it's probably been running on emergency heat mode.

 

[Jslys13]

Check the draw of your major appliances. Had a refr. that sucked the power one month.

This might be a dumb question but how do I do that? I have a refrigerator in the kitchen, one in the basement , a kegerator and an upright freezer. But they were all used the month before.

 

[Jslys13]

What's your heat source? If you have a heat pump, it's probably been running on emergency heat mode.

I have propane for heat. Forced air

 

[bigdav160]

One could be going bad. I had high electrical bill right before an upright freezer failed.

 

[brycez28]

Space heater? I am running one in my garage and that was about the same increase of usage I saw.

 

[the gypsy]

Have you been watching lots of the naughty channel on the new 32 led tv.

 

[Jslys13]

Space heater? I am running one in my garage and that was about the same increase of usage I saw.

No heater.

 

[G_P]

An amp clamp will tell you the draw of the appliances. Some fridges/freezers have heaters in them for the auto defrost cycle. If the heater got stuck on it will be sucking juice constantly and the compressor will be running much more often.

 

[krdiesel03]

turn everything off in the house and watch the meter, if it is turning fast then you have a device with a high draw, start shutting off breakers until you find it.

You can also ask the power company to check the calibration on the meter.

Working at a power plant, I thank you for your high usage

 

[kapthook]

Working at a power plant, I thank you for your high usage

1100kwh isn't high usage for this time of year. I'd say he's doing pretty well.

 

[Jslys13]

turn everything off in the house and watch the meter, if it is turning fast then you have a device with a high draw, start shutting off breakers until you find it.

You can also ask the power company to check the calibration on the meter.

Working at a power plant, I thank you for your high usage

lol I work the for the electric company that I have. But I still don't like the increase.

 

[gungatim]

sounds pretty normal to me. October wasn't too cold, didn't you get the snow and cold weather in November like the rest of us in N. midwest? a 50% increase in a cold month like November was is pretty typical. furnace runs more, lights on longer (DSL, shorter daylight), holiday trees, Thanksgiving cooking, off all day watching more TV, etc.

 

[nine4gmc]

Fuel prices will effect your electric bill too, our latest electric bill went up about 20% over the previous and we only had a few more kwh than the month before as well. Check the bill rate, I bet it changed slightly.

 

[Stuart in MN]

Don't know about Akron, but Minneapolis had a very cold November. Colder weather = furnace running more.

Also, check to make sure you don't have a running toilet or dripping faucet. Even if it's just a little bit, over the course of the day your well pump will run a lot more.

 

[Jslys13]

Don't know about Akron, but Minneapolis had a very cold November. Colder weather = furnace running more.

Also, check to make sure you don't have a running toilet or dripping faucet. Even if it's just a little bit, over the course of the day your well pump will run a lot more.

I don't remember November being all that cold other than one week. I keep my house around 65. I do have a faucet that has a slow drip but it was like that the pervious month.

 

[danfromsyr]

92% furnace only means it gives 92%heat from the 100% gas that comes into the burner..
you could still have a pricey electrical useage from the fan & ignition systems..

days are shorter now too
so lights on more at home
do you have any of those halogen lights or how about outside motion lights with 90w bulbs?

 

[Jslys13]

Fuel prices will effect your electric bill too, our latest electric bill went up about 20% over the previous and we only had a few more kwh than the month before as well. Check the bill rate, I bet it changed slightly.

It's not just the price that increased but the kwh more than doubled.

 

[larry_g]

We changed to Daylight savings time the first of Nov. So now with the change in season and dst you have some 2 hours more lighting time.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Jslys13]

92% furnace only means it gives 92%heat from the 100% gas that comes into the burner..
you could still have a pricey electrical useage from the fan & ignition systems..

days are shorter now too
so lights on more at home
do you have any of those halogen lights or how about outside motion lights with 90w bulbs?

I do have 2 lights outside that work off an eye. One of them is a halogen but I think it's like a 45w.

 

[tdkkart]

This might be a dumb question but how do I do that? I have a refrigerator in the kitchen, one in the basement , a kegerator and an upright freezer. But they were all used the month before.

These are very educational:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00009MDBU/?tag=atomicindus08-20


Our 48" LED TV that's supposed to be so "energy efficient", uses exactly the same power as my old 27" CRT TV.

Refrigerators, freezers, kegerators, water heaters are some of the biggest energy hogs. I put our 2 laptops on timers so their power supplies are shut off when we're not home. Each laptop power supply continuously uses as much as our one TV.

I would venture a guess(actually I know*) that we use less power than most households simply because we work 2nd shift, but we still use an average of 750kwh/month, with a range of 550 to 1100 depending on the season.

*Our power company has a rather intrusive feature on their website that allows you to look up power usage by address. I know for a fact that our neighbors use up to twice as much power as we do.

 

[Halfdawg]

Maybe check the pressure tank on the well. Go in the pump house and have somebody turn on a faucet to see if the well pump kicks on immediately.

 

[Randy in Maine]

When my dehumidifier is on it jacks my usage up about $15 a month. I use it only sparingly now.

I now also turn my Bunn coffee pot on about 5 minutes before my morning coffee and turn it off after that. I have also replaced about 75% of my lightbulbs with the LED ones so far. I am trying to get my bill down to below $50 a month vs the $65 now.

 

[chops101]

Do you have a smart meter installed or the plain mechanical wheeled meter?

We have been retrofitted with smart meters, and you can get hooked into analyzing usage and trying to drop it down. For Nov, I used 0 heat and 0 AC, but still managed to use 1005 kWh. Avg daily was 36kWh.

I *think* your high delta between months is probably due to a "guessed" usage and then a real reading that made up the difference?

 

[nine4gmc]

Do you have a smart meter installed or the plain mechanical wheeled meter?

We have been retrofitted with smart meters, and you can get hooked into analyzing usage and trying to drop it down. For Nov, I used 0 heat and 0 AC, but still managed to use 1005 kWh. Avg daily was 36kWh.

I *think* your high delta between months is probably due to a "guessed" usage and then a real reading that made up the difference?

This too^

 

[Paul1956]

Your neighbor is sucking your power from an extension run
to one of your outside outlets.

Maybe he and your son are in the grow-op business together.

 

[Rookie2]

I would say the first bill was read wrong but if last december the house used 850kwh then there is some additional heat or heater that is on every day. read the meter every day or twice a day and like others said turn breakers off until the meter shows a decrease or turn everything off and turn one at a time on and compare them to a known device like a 1000 watt space heater.

any water beds ? Heat tape on water lines ?

 

[CNGsaves]

Generally you rarely have overcharged electricity that wasn't actually used . .. or boondoggle where they stuck you with higher price than they should. Electric monopolies are highly regulated and generally act in very deliberate and fair ways with the customer.

+1 on 1st month estimate if you just got house and house fell off the meter reader route. That "larger" bill could be true-up to actual. I'd guess your normal useage will be self evident once you get a few months bills.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Now, WATER Departments of Cities are what screw with people. On and off for 20 years every spring I'll get less than 30 day bill, then 35 day bill, and it's readily apparent that they used estimated reading. HOWEVER, that's not end to scamming they're doing, is fact that more gallons used puts the price per gallon in the next HIGHER priced tier . . . thus, city is ripping off customers. The short cycle is invariably while it's still winter (ie low useage), and the LONG over 30 day bill is ALWAYS in March when sprinkler systems and water useage cranks back up. It's a racket and it really pisses me off !!

 

[ratdoggy]

sounds pretty normal to me. October wasn't too cold, didn't you get the snow and cold weather in November like the rest of us in N. midwest? a 50% increase in a cold month like November was is pretty typical. furnace runs more, lights on longer (DSL, shorter daylight), holiday trees, Thanksgiving cooking, off all day watching more TV, etc.

Akron area did get a lot colder very quickly. In October my heat barely was on,this November it seemed to be running all the time and we did get snow before Thanksgiving.

 

[bmxdad]

Any neighbors hooking up to an outlet, to run their light Christmas lights?

 

[krdiesel03]

1100kwh isn't high usage for this time of year. I'd say he's doing pretty well.

True, 1100 KW is nothing, Wish mine was that low.

 

[DonPowers]

Pick up a Kill A Watt EZ Meter at Lowes or Home Depot. They are easy to use and will let you know what your appliances are drawing.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/P3-International-Kill-A-Watt-EZ-Meter-P4460/202196388

If you have a meter with a wheel on it you can have someone cycle the breakers while you watch the wheel. If there is a significant change in speed it would be worth looking into that circuit.

 

[G McKay]

You're joking right? You live in Akron, Ohio and you can't figure out why you electric bill jumped the past month? You're lucky it didn't triple between October and yesterday.

 

[DonPowers]

Here is another handy device for checking circuits.
http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay...gId=10051&cmRelshp=req&rel=nofollow&cId=PDIO1

 

[DonPowers]

I live in Northern Maine. My usage runs between 400 KW in the summer to high 700's in the winter and that's with a hot tub that has a 5 KW heater. The tub sits on an insulated pad and is inside a Shelter Logic greenhouse. Before the tub, my usage was in the mid 300's to the high 400's.

The garage has its own meter.