Electrical usage for your house???

[tommu56]

Eddie with your larger service does it put you in commerical rates?
If so do you have any demand charges?


what do you pay per kwh?

tom

 

[jrwalkerpa1]

That does sounds like a lot, esp if the hot tub is off. My house is just a little over 2000 sq feet and is all electric (heat, AC, water heat, cooking, etc) I also have a full unfinished basement (another 2000 sq feet) but it is not heated or cooled. The house was built in 2002 and is well insulated. My numbers may be a little skewed since I have a geothermal heatpump but they are...... Averages about 1000kwh/month in the winter and about 500kwh/month in the summer. I also get about 50% of my hot water via a desuperheater with the geothermal so that helps. Before the geothermal I averaged about 800kvh/month year round but I had oil heat then which added about $150-$300 (depending on the year/oil prices) per month (year round-12month budget payment). I am in Pennsylvania so I probably use a lot more heat and a lot less A/C than you. I set the heat on 68 and the A/C on 72 or 74 as the mood strikes me! I have mostly CFL bulbs and turn things off when not using them but other than that I am not overally concerned about being careful of my electric use...in other words I don't really do anything special to save usage.

 

[MossRoad]

You could also unplug EVERYTHING in your house and see if your meter is still spinning. Then turn things on individually to see what spins it even when it appears off. You could break it down by circuit breaker, too.

Maybe you have something with a motor that you forgot about? Attic fans come to mind. If you have a well, you may have a leak underground. Check your pressure gauge every few minutes and see if it hold steady for an hour with no water usage. If it is dropping or cycling, there is a leak somewhere.

 

[woodchuckcanuck]

We have electric heat, but never use the heater from the HVAC system.

Eddie,

Make certain this is the case. In the winter of 2006/2007 we made the mistake of setting our hvac to "E Heat". We thought "E" mean efficiency when it actually meant "Emergency". Our light bill had double during that period.

Our 2975 sq ft house with unfinished basement was built 3 yrs ago to R-2000 specs, test rated 92% efficient. We average 24.6kWh per day for 2009. 2008 was 24.9 kWh/day. We pay $0.10 per kWh so that works out to about $75 a month. 2 adults, no kids.

Factors that reflect our bill:

• Main face of house faces west on a hillside, windy location. So the solar factor really helps...also fades the hardwood floors and furniture too.
• House is heated with a air course heat pump which doubles as a/c in summer. It will draw heat from the air down to about -20C (-4F) before the electric heat kicks in. Apparently some thinks there's still heat in the air at -20 C
• We run a wood stove in the winter, located in the living room, center of the house, 17ft ceilings.Currently burn about 6 full cords a year. Installed a ceiling fan last year...made a HUGE difference in the comfort level. Prior to the wood stove we were burning about 35 kWh a day.

All the appliances you may have, while small, do add up. But its not like you can unplug your fridge at night. I know that a computer plugged in 24/7/365 cab add as much as $75 or more to an annual bill. All those batter y charges, cell phone charges that remain plugged in while not connected to a cellphone or filled with batteries all consume. The little things add up but I'd bee looking for the big ticket items first.

High wattage light bulbs. Thermostat active with windows left open while heat or a/c is running. Hot water tank that is too small for the occupancy of the home. Dirty filters in your heating system or hvac. If your basement is unfinished and the rim board is uninsulated, you can lose up to 5% of your home's energy that way. Improper ceiling insulation or improper installation.

The last house we had, we increased the attic insulation to R40 from R15 (1970's house) and we saved $50 a month in heating bill.
Its either that or your neighbor has tapped into your feed because he's running a grow-op

 

[MarkV]

Eddie I would see if your electric provider offers an energy audit as a service. Something isn't right. My house is about double the size of yours, built in the early 70's, all electric, has sub standard insulation and the ORIGINAL heat and air system. I know it is time for a remodel. We are using about the same kwh as you in twice the space with inefficient systems and minimal insulation.

If they don't offer an audit system at least insist that the meter be checked for accuracy. It is not unheard of for meters to be bad.

MarkV

 

[woodchuckcanuck]

It is not unheard of for meters to be bad.

I can confirm that.

Also, if you all take showers/baths during peak times, you're paying a lot more for that electricity to heat up the water.

 

[randy41]

my usage is average 1044/month over the past year. This includes heating a small greenhouse with an electric heater from March through early May. An old inefficient upright freezer. Heating the house with electric baseboards whenever using the woodstove is inconvenient. No air conditioning. House is well insulated. The house is on a windy ridge. Last winters low temperature was around 0. Most of the time there are but 2 people living here.

 

[kenstrac]

My neighbor had his electric bill go up I found the check valve in submersible pump not holding and leaking water back into well pump was running about 6hrs a day instead of pulling pump installed check at tank.Had another the heating element in HW tank had a split and was conducting to side of tank.
The power Co up here will lend you a small plug in watt meter the on the heavy load stuff I would check w/amp meter

 

[rockinmywaypa]

a couple years ago my submersible water pump shorted out but didn't quit providing water pressure. My bills spiked enormously and because my meter is read once every three months and estimated between it took longer than it should have to find out. Got the pump fixed and usage back down but had to deal with the hydro companys huge estimates for the periods relating to past usage. I agree with the post that says turn everything off and then turn on one breaker at a time to see what spins your meter the fastest.

 

[jayste]

I can't get you any firm numbers yet ( I'm at work) but I do know the well pump will drive it up if it runs continuously. Like others have said. Last winter I forgot to turn on the heat light in the farm's well house and while I was away elk hunting (as you can see my mind was other places when I left) the water froze and busted a pipe. I don't know for sure how long the pump ran but I assume it was a day and a half or so. The 220v pump raised the electric bill by 2X. Normally the farm electric bill is around $35-40 per month but that month was over $80! I can't tell you the kWh usage but I can find out. Also, as others have said I would get the electric provider involved as well.

Jay