Excessive electric usage indicated! Help!

[JasonG]

A tennant can mess a bit with the water heater.
There should be 2 valves on top of the heater, sometimes only 1. Turn them off wait 5 min then turn 1 on slowly and listen for flow, then the second one while listening for flow noises.
Try turning the water heater valve off eccept for when you shower but leave the breaker on all the time and record the KW usage.
This will seperate if its a water or elec leak.

[hondo434]

electric water heaters have one or two elements. They are exposed to minerals in the water. when heat is applied to water minerals are attracted to the elements and attach. The minerals can encrust the elements so heat is kept from efficiently transferring to the water this significantly increase electric usage. The elements can be screwed out and inspected and,or replaced

[hondo434]

Sorry, did not read whole thread. Water heater is new. Electric water heaters usually have two 3500 watt elements or two 4500 watt elements depending on the quality and size of the unit. If the thermostat can not reach shut off temp then it will run forever. With new tank and no hot water then I would say there is a short in 220 wiring to water heater. I would call water heater installer and tell them there is something wrong with water heater and see if they will come and check out breaker box. The other scenario is water diversion. This would be unlikely simply because of the sheer volume of water and would be easiler heard from water heater pipes making noise.
I also would think if there were a short there would be dimming of lights and heat around breaker box and maybe breaker tripping.

[sarahama]

SUCCESS! A SOLUTION!

My landlord finally repaired the problem that caused the high electric costs in the apartment! As suggested by one of our good people, there was a water leak which resulted in the water heater staying on for 24 hours a day to re-heat the water. I mentioned this to my landlord more than 6 months ago, but they said it was impossible because there wasn't any indication of a water leak in the apartment and the leak couldn't be heard. This December an electrician was brought in to record the electric usage from the breaker panel and subsequently told the landlord that the problem must be a water leak. The landlord replaced the hose between the kitchen sink and where it comes into the apartment (a few steps from the kitchen to laundry area). My meter finally stopped turning like crazy. I look forward to lower electric bills and I'm sure the owner will have a lower water bill for the combined apartments. He said that he would settle on the electric costs that were incurred. This problem that has been present since the apartment was built 3 years ago, and having 3 different tenants who rented the space, is finally remedied.

[jjackstone]

Outstanding!!!! I was wondering if this had ever gotten a resolution. And now it has.
JJ

[Funny]

That's great news! I hope that the settlement is ginormous for the headaches it has caused!

[sarahama]

I have moved out of my apartment and the owner did not compensate me even one dime for all high electric bills and related problems. Another example of a landlord taking advantage of college students.

[Thalass]

Did you ever resolve the issue of the dryer cb tripping?

[sarahama]

I'm not certain why the dryer tripped. It didn't happen again so I didn't worry about it.