High electric bill? NGC naturally

[Chuck in Indiana]

Dorcia is complaining about this months electric bill.  Naturally, if momma ain't happy, nobody's happy. This month's bill is about the same as December. I'd think it should be lower because of no heat being used.. but what do I know? Is there  a way to find out what is eating electricity?

[LowRyter]

My electric is much higher in the summer. 

Of course, I have gas heat and electric air. 

Still, I'm not sure that heat takes more energy than air, given that most total electric run on heat pumps now.

[Kev m]

Not to overstate the obvious but:

* Run the AC a lot this past month?

* Did you double check the meter read?


On that last one we got a somewhat outrageous electric bill some years back and when I checked I could see the meter had been misread.

[RinkRat II]

      Lots of variables to this, can you compare last 2 years bills to the current one? Higher humidity this year causing A/C to run more?  SEER rating of your A/C and how old. Been running your locating beacon more than usual. More late nights in the hangar on your build with machinery running? 

    Paul B

[John A]

Generally costs more to cool than to heat.  https://poweroutage.us/

[Gliderjohn]

That would have been pretty much an average bill for us before solar.
GliderJohn

[xackley]

Have you updated all your light to led. Soft white led are the same warmth as incandescent. I can turn all the lights on in my house and draw less than 1 incandescent.
My bills are 80 or less at about 16 cents per kilowatt hour.

To investigate you need a watt meter, about $20, and/or an amp meter, about $30.
If you buy an amp meter search for DC amp meter so it will be useful on a 12 volt  DC circuit.

My brother's bill is over $200. He didn't do any investigation but decided it was his wife running the dryer all the time.

Don

[blackcat]

Ours was a little higher for a our 1928 2,500sq.ft. Florida house with a reasonable amount of attic insulation.

Unless you take the solar route, best get use to these bills.

"shrug"  

[LowRyter]

That would have been pretty much an average bill for us before solar.
GliderJohn

Do you plan to make a solar conversion on your new house in New Mexico? 

[Gliderjohn]

From LowRyter:
"Do you plan to make a solar conversion on your new house in New Mexico? "

Probably will check into it. The house (2,500 sq ft)is suppose to be very efficient. They are claiming around $275 avg. for A/C, heat, water and sewer.
GliderJohn

[bassa99]

How do you heat your water? If electric that might be what accounts for more usage if something is amiss with heater.

[StuCorpe]

At my mothers house when hers seemed to go way high in the summer time we found that the pressure tank on her well had failed and that made the well pump run almost continuously.  Traced problem by opening circuit breaker box and checking current draw on each circuit breaker with clamp on ammeter. 

[n3303j]

Kids mining Bitcoin again?

[AJ Huff]

"Beverage" fridge in the garage will do this.

-AJ

[John A]

How do you heat your water? If electric that might be what accounts for more usage if something is amiss with heater.

This
An aging electric water heater can be a high consumer. The heating elements get covered in sediment and heat that more than the water.

[Kent in Upstate NY]

Did you forget to pay the previous month's bill? BTDT.

[aklawok]

 that hidden greenhouse full of "tomatoes" will wind up a elec. bill keewik! lol!
but seriously, look@ your meter and see how fast it is going, if you have some appliances u suspect get a "kill a watt", it will measure wattage of an item plugged into it. also turning off circuit breakers individualy and then looking @meter can tell u where a mystery drain is located. people can get creative at stealing electricity!

[Chuck in Indiana]

Thanks for the tips. Come to think of it, we *have* had record heat.  We have geothermal, but it's old.  I'll tell Dorcia it's because of the air conditioning..

[jkguzzi]

My electric usage has been going up slightly in the past 12 months, usually 300-450 kwh, now 450-500 kwh, about $75.00/month. Gas and wood heat, no AC. So I bought one of these. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08G37ML2R/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Works very well but I didn't find anything dramatic that would cause higher usage although I was surprised to learn that my highest use item is my garden pond pump.

[Mayor_of_BBQ]

Chuck I figured all you retired guys had your bill set for consistent payments? Not sure if your provider does this, but Duke/Progress Energy here will avg your bills for the last 1-2 years and send you a monthly bill that is the same every time!  They do adjust it yearly (similar to how like mortgage escrow works) so might actually get 11 months that are all the same and an adjusted bill once a year that is lower or higher to make it all shake out right vs. your actual consumption.

[Kev m]

Chuck I figured all you retired guys had your bill set for consistent payments? Not sure if your provider does this, but Duke/Progress Energy here will avg your bills for the last 1-2 years and send you a monthly bill that is the same every time!

It says that they do on the photo of the bill he showed...it lists the amount it would be by current average.

[Mayor_of_BBQ]

It says that they do on the photo of the bill he showed...it lists the amount it would be by current average.

I barely look at MY OWN electric bill lol, nice catch. In other news, holy crap $275 a month jeeze. Maybe I am spoiled by not having AC and oil monitor heat, but if mine goes over $120/mo I start pacing the house turning off lights!

[Mike Tashjian]

Looks like the AC ran more to me.  I am looking at split A/C heat units which tout SEER rating in the high twenties.  They are suppose to get three to four times out from what you put in. So in theory you could use much less electricity to cool or heat. They say they are as good as a high efficiency gas furnace at heating and save two to three times what a average 10 SEER rating AC unit runs at.  And the new ones say they can still heat at temps near zero or below Fahrenheit although at reduced output.  Payback should be pretty quick if you can do most of the the install yourself.  My friend in Phoenix AZ has done a few units out there and has great results.  He does the install and hires a AC guy to purge and test the lines before running the unit.   

[Chuck in Indiana]

My electric usage has been going up slightly in the past 12 months, usually 300-450 kwh, now 450-500 kwh, about $75.00/month. Gas and wood heat, no AC. So I bought one of these. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08G37ML2R/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Works very well but I didn't find anything dramatic that would cause higher usage although I was surprised to learn that my highest use item is my garden pond pump.

Now we're talking.  Thanks.. that's the sort of thing I was thinking about. Looking over the bill again, I'm pretty sure it *is* the air conditioning, though. Dorcia was complaining that the bill was higher, and we were gone much of the month.. but certainly the air conditioning was running.

[RinkRat II]

       What is the lifespan of the fluid in your geothermal? May need a change out, most systems run about 15 years before degrading. (throwing darts)

        Paul B

[twowheeladdict]

Now we're talking.  Thanks.. that's the sort of thing I was thinking about. Looking over the bill again, I'm pretty sure it *is* the air conditioning, though. Dorcia was complaining that the bill was higher, and we were gone much of the month.. but certainly the air conditioning was running.

A smart thermostat can be set to vary the temps as need.  We usually set ours at 80 during the day because that is still a lot cooler than outside, and to 76 right before bed which cools it down nicely and rarely comes on after 10 PM. 

Our bill includes an $8 trash pickup fee, so taking that into consideration our highest bill this summer was $130. 

If you have central air, when was the last time you inspected the duct work to make sure it was still sealed well and no leaks?

[Chuck in Indiana]

       What is the lifespan of the fluid in your geothermal? May need a change out, most systems run about 15 years before degrading. (throwing darts)

        Paul B

I had no idea that it would need changing out. 25 years or so.. I'll look into that.

[Chuck in Indiana]

If you have central air, when was the last time you inspected the duct work to make sure it was still sealed well and no leaks?

Hmm. Much of it is covered by drywall.

[Tom]

Electric company out here charges more during peak demand.  They also float the base charge for diesel fuel per month.  All electricity is oil generated some coal.  I dropped our electric bill going to solar water heating and disconnecting the clothes dryer.  No a/c  just fans.  About $65 per person per month.  Fortunately the whole state is solar cooled/heated.   

[rschrum]

When the bill comes, I pay it. If your electricity comes from nat gas, the price of gas is going up. I'll let you smart guys figure that out.