Electric bill seems high...advice?

[Clev]

Originally Posted by ZachUA

He is also giving me a good deal on the rent (charging me less than the previous tenant) and not charging me any other utilities so I wasn't going to push the issue.

Sounds like you need a hose from the tap and a water wheel connected to a generator. Then turn off the breaker and create your own electricity. :-)

[Clev]

On a more serious note, if your meter display is digital, clean out the fridge and then turn off all of the breakers next time you leave the house for a few days. If you get back and the number on the display has increased, you know you're not the only one on that meter.

[ZachUA]

Hahah, water wheel is an excellent idea! lol

The breaker idea is great.

I need to figure out what each switch does. Whoever wired it up didn't label anything.

[Ryland]

on your breaker box there is a switch at the top that is your "main" it will turn off the whole breaker box.
your water heater, if it is a tank style water heater could be costing you $20-30 per month even when you are not home, have your land lord install a timer to turn it off about an hour before you want your last hot water (it stays hot in the tank for a few hours after being turned off), some hot water tanks also have a "vacation" switch that turns them off or to a much lower setting.
to learn to read your meter use Google.
your microwave is costing you around $2-5 per month just being pluged in, same with your clock radio, dvd player, your computer monitor, tv and other cathoray tube monitors are costing you as much as twice as much while they are plugged in.
on the electric bill it will tell you if it is a real reading or an estament, it will also tell you the meter reading that the bill is based off, if you want to be kind to your land lord about it tell them that you think the power company over charged you, or that you are trying to conserve more and that a look at the bill will help you in your quest.
my power company estimated my bill and it came up $25 higher then it would be if they read the meter, so we basically prepaid $25 for next month, I'm not going to fight it, it's $25 I can't spend early.
the meter for your house should be round just like the other meter, a photo of the two would be good to see.
your big users of power are, things that heat, things that cool, things that have soft buttons to turn them on or off or remotes to turn them on and off, things that have batteries (battery back up for computers) or things that charge, like cell phone chargers, and last of all things that have lights that are always on, like clocks on the microwave, or the display on the dvd player.

[Daveedo]

Couple Qs for ya:
What kind of windows are in the apt?
If non low-e then you can put plastic over them to help somewhat.
Hows the seals on the door(s)? Foam weather strip helps alot and is cheap.

Some fridges really suck the power. Friend of mine's wife got a "free" fridge for the garage. His wife stuffed it full of stuff they never eat or use and his electric bill went up $35 per month. Because she wouldn't get rid of it or stop "using" it he slowly emptied it out over a period of several eventually unplugged it. Electric bill dropped $35 per month.

[Frank Lee]

Originally Posted by wyatt

I found this calculation out there...

First, dietary calories are really kilocalories, so someone eating a 2,000 calorie diet is really eating 2,000,000 calories.

1 calorie is 4.184 joules, so multiply 2 million by 4.184 and you get 8,368,000 joules.

Divide that by seconds in a day, 86,400, and you get 96.85 watts.

We aren't really 100% efficient at turning food into heat, but we are somewhere on the scale of having a 100 watt light bulb turned on. I am sure a cat would be much less. Lights do add heat, but it's electric resistive heating which isn't the best way to go, so that shouldn't make a negative difference in your bill.

Hi Wyatt~

Thanks for the info. I'll have to think on that for a while...

[jjackstone]

Hi ZachUA,

There couple of things that I haven't seen mentioned.
1. Do you have a washer and dryer? Both electric?
2. Most heat pumps have an auxiliary electric heating coil in the house for when it becomes really cold. If yours does, and it is activated in addition to the heat pump, then the electric bill tends to crank up fast.
3. I see you ordered the Kill-A-Watt meter. Use it on the fridge first. Anything over about 1.5KWHrs per day is pretty high for a modern freezer/fridge.
4. I missed your location. Are you in a southern state? Older houses tend not to be well insulated in the South because it was thought that it was cheaper to heat and cool than to insulate.
JJ

[jjackstone]

Oops. Just reread and saw that you have no washer/dryer. Sorry.
JJ

[The Atomic Ass]

Originally Posted by Daveedo

Some fridges really suck the power. Friend of mine's wife got a "free" fridge for the garage. His wife stuffed it full of stuff they never eat or use and his electric bill went up $35 per month. Because she wouldn't get rid of it or stop "using" it he slowly emptied it out over a period of several eventually unplugged it. Electric bill dropped $35 per month.

Somethings that are free aren't really free!

My fridge, during the hottest of summer with the A/C on 78, wasn't even pulling 2kwh/day. Less than $8/month here.

And it's an R-12 fridge.

[Ryland]

I've been impressed with my free fridge, just over a kwh per day coming out to around $3.50 per month in electricity

Originally Posted by The Atomic Ass

Somethings that are free aren't really free!

My fridge, during the hottest of summer with the A/C on 78, wasn't even pulling 2kwh/day. Less than $8/month here.

And it's an R-12 fridge.