CurlyDave
Elite Member
My electric just about doubled last month -- I found and fixed a small hot water leak which I suspect was the cause of the problem.
Electrical usage for your house???
- Thread starter EddieWalker
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tallyho8
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Eddie, we live in an older 1200 sq ft home that is not well insulated. Gas water heater, dryer and heating but electric stove and oven, large refrigerator and extra freezer. We are energy hogs in the summer because we like to stay cool. We save energy in the winter because we like the house at 58 degrees. In summer we keep it at 72 degrees in the day and 70 at night.
We just got our bill for the month of July which is usually our highest bill and we used 1978 kw last month. It was quite hot and very humid in south Louisiana last month.
An air conditioner with dirty condensor coils outside can use a lot of electricity but this does not sound like your problem since your bill is so high in spring and fall when you don't use the AC or heating. In an old house with bad wiring you can frequently touch the circuit breakers and feel a hot one to detect a circuit that is overloaded and then find what is on that circuit that is using high amperage.
Hopefully, your power company will just come install a new meter and you can read it daily to see if your kw usage is lower now and if not, start checking all your circuits to see what is using the kw.
I knew someone who wanted their meter changed and the power company wouldn't do it but then someone shot it with a pellet gun and they came out immediately and changed it.
We just got our bill for the month of July which is usually our highest bill and we used 1978 kw last month. It was quite hot and very humid in south Louisiana last month.
An air conditioner with dirty condensor coils outside can use a lot of electricity but this does not sound like your problem since your bill is so high in spring and fall when you don't use the AC or heating. In an old house with bad wiring you can frequently touch the circuit breakers and feel a hot one to detect a circuit that is overloaded and then find what is on that circuit that is using high amperage.
Hopefully, your power company will just come install a new meter and you can read it daily to see if your kw usage is lower now and if not, start checking all your circuits to see what is using the kw.
I knew someone who wanted their meter changed and the power company wouldn't do it but then someone shot it with a pellet gun and they came out immediately and changed it.
RonMar
Elite Member
Eddie
If you have a power meter with the rotating disk, you can, with a stopwatch and a little math determine the ammount of power being used at any given time. This combined with turning on or off the breakers in the panel can help you to easilly identify each specific 220V appliance's usage, which is something the Kill-a-watt cannot do.
The amount of energy represented by one revolution of the disc is denoted by the symbol Kh which is given in units of watt-hours per revolution. The value for Kh should be printed on the face of the meter. The value 7.2 is commonly seen. Using the value of Kh, one can determine the power consumption at any given time by timing the disc with a stopwatch. If the time in seconds taken by the disc to complete one revolution is "t", then the power in watts(P)= 3600 X KH Divided by "t".
For example, if Kh = 7.2, and one revolution took place in 14.4 seconds, the power is 1800 watts. This method can be used to determine the power consumption of household devices by switching their breakers on one by one.
I tried this and it seems to work pretty well. 3600 represents the number of seconds in an hour. This is similar to the formula I use for checking a speedometer. 3600 divided by the number of seconds required to cover a measured mile = speed in MPH. The value for Kh should be on the face of The meter somewhere. Mine was 7.2. Just time the wheel thru one complete revolution. and use this number to divide 3600 X Kh...
If you have a power meter with the rotating disk, you can, with a stopwatch and a little math determine the ammount of power being used at any given time. This combined with turning on or off the breakers in the panel can help you to easilly identify each specific 220V appliance's usage, which is something the Kill-a-watt cannot do.
The amount of energy represented by one revolution of the disc is denoted by the symbol Kh which is given in units of watt-hours per revolution. The value for Kh should be printed on the face of the meter. The value 7.2 is commonly seen. Using the value of Kh, one can determine the power consumption at any given time by timing the disc with a stopwatch. If the time in seconds taken by the disc to complete one revolution is "t", then the power in watts(P)= 3600 X KH Divided by "t".
For example, if Kh = 7.2, and one revolution took place in 14.4 seconds, the power is 1800 watts. This method can be used to determine the power consumption of household devices by switching their breakers on one by one.
I tried this and it seems to work pretty well. 3600 represents the number of seconds in an hour. This is similar to the formula I use for checking a speedometer. 3600 divided by the number of seconds required to cover a measured mile = speed in MPH. The value for Kh should be on the face of The meter somewhere. Mine was 7.2. Just time the wheel thru one complete revolution. and use this number to divide 3600 X Kh...
BobRip
Elite Member
Eddie, you bill does sound very high. Do you have a heat pump? I think that would be more efficient than running electric heaters. If the electric heaters allow you to not heat many rooms then they might help, otherwise a heat pump is about 3 times more efficient at generating heat than an electric heater. Don't believe the adds about "more efficient electric heaters". They don't exist. Are you using CFL light bulbs? If not convert as many lights as you regularly use to these. About 3 to 4 times more efficient.
Add an insulation blanket to your hot water heater and insulate the outlet pipes as far as you can and the inlet one back several feet. Turn the hot water heater down to 120 degrees F.
Is you house sealed as tight as possible? This is huge.
Set your A/C so you are slightly warm. You don't really need to be cool.
All of these are standard things that you may have already done, just checking.
As large as your bill is it sounds like something major is wrong. The other things that people have suggested are good, but I have found that a lot of the time you have to do lots of little things to save energy.
Add an insulation blanket to your hot water heater and insulate the outlet pipes as far as you can and the inlet one back several feet. Turn the hot water heater down to 120 degrees F.
Is you house sealed as tight as possible? This is huge.
Set your A/C so you are slightly warm. You don't really need to be cool.
All of these are standard things that you may have already done, just checking.
As large as your bill is it sounds like something major is wrong. The other things that people have suggested are good, but I have found that a lot of the time you have to do lots of little things to save energy.
2manyrocks
Super Member
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2007
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- 8,567
The HVAC guys hooked up my thermostat wrong and had my AC and backup heat going at the same time. I kept complaining that I wasn't getting the cooling I was supposed to be getting. Finally figured it out after the first month's electric bill came.
westcliffe01
Veteran Member
Are you on city sewage ? If so, you may have a 220v pump that pumps from a holding tank to the city system. I'd estimate those pumps at 2-5hp but they normally run intermittently. If there is a serious restriction on the city side that slows things down, the pump can end up runing continuously.
The way the sewer pump is wired, it has no circuit breaker in the main panel, but a seperate breaker in the box outside on the wall.
Take stock of your lighting situation, particularly when running the airconditioning. Incandescent lights add to the heat load that then has to be extracted by the air conditioner. When I moved into my home, I started tallying up light bulbs. If we had all the lights in the house on, it was over 3.5kW before anything else. I have changed nearly everything to compact florescents and it cuts consumption by about 75% and reduced summer air conditioning load. Watch out for exterior spotlights or any other lighting left on all night. The company I work at burns their high mast lighting 24/7, but then gives the employees a 10% pay cut because of the hard financial times...
The way the sewer pump is wired, it has no circuit breaker in the main panel, but a seperate breaker in the box outside on the wall.
Take stock of your lighting situation, particularly when running the airconditioning. Incandescent lights add to the heat load that then has to be extracted by the air conditioner. When I moved into my home, I started tallying up light bulbs. If we had all the lights in the house on, it was over 3.5kW before anything else. I have changed nearly everything to compact florescents and it cuts consumption by about 75% and reduced summer air conditioning load. Watch out for exterior spotlights or any other lighting left on all night. The company I work at burns their high mast lighting 24/7, but then gives the employees a 10% pay cut because of the hard financial times...
Bird
Rest in Peace
Yep, Eddie, I thought we used a lot, but yours is definitely higher. Our house is 1,295 sq. feet, 8' ceilings, except master bedroom is 10' and living room is peaked at 11' I think. We have a second refrigerator in the shop building, a low wattage compact florescent bulb outside in the front and one in the back, as well as one two tube 40 watt florescent fixture in the garage that are on 24/7. My computer is always on, and the TV in the living room is on, whether we're even at home or not, at least 16 hours a day. The house is total electric with a heat pump, my wife runs the washer & dryer almost every day. And we like it cool; never change the thermostat so it's about 70-71 degrees in the house. Ceiling fan in master bedroom usually on 24/7, the others on and off at times. Our electric bills are dated the 20th of each month and our usage has been:
Aug. = 1,897 KWH
Jul. = 1,969
Jun. = 1,462
May = 1,221
Apr. = 1,066
Mar. = 1,227
Feb. = 1,427
Jan. = 1,753
We do also have an 11k BTU window unit (both heat and cooling) in the shop that's used occasionally.
Aug. = 1,897 KWH
Jul. = 1,969
Jun. = 1,462
May = 1,221
Apr. = 1,066
Mar. = 1,227
Feb. = 1,427
Jan. = 1,753
We do also have an 11k BTU window unit (both heat and cooling) in the shop that's used occasionally.
Scooby074
Super Member
You have a Kil A Watt on order.. good. Use it on all your 120v devices.. i think youll be suprised what "off" things continue to draw.
Change your lights to CFL or LED. Less power use and less heat. Led would be even better and the prices have come down alot.
Id definately have the local Hydro come out and check your metre. They can go "bad". I suspect this is your problem.
as was mentioned before, shut everything down and turn on each individual 220v device and see what they're drawing. You could use a clamp on metre, but it involves opening the panel, with the inherent risks
Id also check with your local hydro and see if you can get a house efficiency survey done. Or you could find a independent contractor. Theyll come out and use a pressure door on your house and determine leakage. It could be an insulation issue.
Something that goes along with this would be a IR survey. This will allow you to pinpoint the exact areas of leakage so you know where to fix. It can also show gaps in insulation behind drywall. hot or cold spots. IR surveys are AWESOME.
Even if it costs you some money, the house survey will be a good thing, especially in your climate, with a Air conditioned house.
Change your lights to CFL or LED. Less power use and less heat. Led would be even better and the prices have come down alot.
Id definately have the local Hydro come out and check your metre. They can go "bad". I suspect this is your problem.
as was mentioned before, shut everything down and turn on each individual 220v device and see what they're drawing. You could use a clamp on metre, but it involves opening the panel, with the inherent risks
Id also check with your local hydro and see if you can get a house efficiency survey done. Or you could find a independent contractor. Theyll come out and use a pressure door on your house and determine leakage. It could be an insulation issue.
Something that goes along with this would be a IR survey. This will allow you to pinpoint the exact areas of leakage so you know where to fix. It can also show gaps in insulation behind drywall. hot or cold spots. IR surveys are AWESOME.
Even if it costs you some money, the house survey will be a good thing, especially in your climate, with a Air conditioned house.
The Dougster
Gold Member
Eddie, it's nearly impossible to compare electric bills because of the different locales, different size homes, etc, but you know that already...Yesterday, in the mail, I received my monthly copy of "Texas Co-Op Power" magazine... I am on Pedernales Electric Co-Op.... anyhow, they now off something called "My Use Energy Analyzer"... I haven't tried it yet but apparently, I will be able to go online, pull up my bill/account and get a visual of individual days, average high and low temps and energy usage... it appears to be quite specific... Ya might contact your provider and see if they have something similar... Good luck with it.
LBrown59
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How can you confirm that ?
