Electric bill seems high...advice?

[Clev]

Originally Posted by ZachUA

Hey Wyatt, I do have the TV and DVD player on a power strip. I don't know for sure that it was unplugged the entire month, but I do tend to keep the strip turned off. The only other things that remain plugged in are...

computer
fridge
washer/dryer (they were plugged in but never turned on)
microwave
couple of lamps

The computer was turned off and unplugged for the whole time I was away during Christmas break.

The only electrical thing I'd say I use frequently at home is the computer. I normally surf the web for a couple hours when I get home.

Sounds like you need a Kill-A-Watt. If you can measure your various devices and figure out how many watts they use, then track how often you use them over an average day or week, you should be able to calculate the monthly usage and find out whether a) you have something that draws more than you think, or b) that you're getting the shaft somehow.

I had a set of Boston Acoustics computer speakers with an enormous power brick. Turns out that that power brick drew a continuous 40 watts, 24 hours a day... even when the speakers were turned off! Needless to say, I dumped them for a set of speakers that actually turn OFF when you turn them off.

I would also recommend turning off your breakers one night, especially if the main house is occupied and their lights are on. If they come out complaining that something in the house went out, you know you're subsidizing them.

[ZachUA]

Thanks Clev, it does sound like I need a kill a watt. How about this one:
Amazon.com: P3 International P4400 Kill A Watt Electricity Usage Monitor: Electronics

[Daox]

Thats the device to get.

[wyatt]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

The cat and I are heat emitting creatures. I wonder how much heat we normally put into the system? Also, use of lights add heat...

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.

[ZachUA]

Excellent. I just ordered it.

I'm going to start a log of all the electrical devices I use and for how long. I may also start a log of how often I'm at home.

I won't be home this weekend or the next......and for this month I was also out of town the first 5 days. It looks like I will have been away (everything turned off) for close to 10 days of the month. Thats not even counting the days I spent the night at my girlfriends house. I bet I will far surpass 10 days.

[Daox]

I suggest you take a look over on EcoRenovator - Ecofriendly DIY Home Projects. Its a break off of EM, but for the home side of things. The guys there would like to see what you're doing.

[esoneson]

ZachUA,

Why don't you ask to see the bill each month instead of
banging your head against the wall? Find out the real numbers first, then make a plan for changing those numbers.

Eric

[bennelson]

I would also check to see that you really ARE on a separate meter.

Is there a detatched garage with a heater in it that might actually be on the same meter? Check all the wiring - find out what does where.

Also, be very careful of how you are billed. Someplaces do a "guesstimate" for the monthly bill and then only read the meter every other or even third month.

That can really mess things up when you are really trying to save energy and your bill doesn't go down at all!

Also, power bills are often not for the prior month, but actually the month before that! You really gotta watch the heat bill in the north in Feb and March!.

[trikkonceptz]

Yeah, the bill thing sounds fishy ... If indeed you are seperate from the home there should be a seperate bill which your "friend" would then hand to you directly to pay directly. I have a funny feeling he is just guestimating your usage and passing on a bill.

He's not being mean I suspect, just inaccurate. If the entire property comes on one bill then thats exactly what is going on.

Otherwise let him know that you are tracking your power usage just to improve your efficiency and you need to see the bill to know how many KWh you use in a month. Because I use 945 KWh in an 1800 sq ft home with a wife and kid that are always there and I'm still trying to cut that back.

[ZachUA]

Daox, I'm reading the site you recommended, great stuff!!

Esonson, I hadn't asked yet bc I thought it might come across as me questioning his truthfulness. 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.

bennelson, the meter looks to be separate to me, but I will take a pic soon and show what it looks like. Basically there is a regular meter, (the one with the little spinning disc inside), and then splitting off that is a much smaller square box with some digital numbers on it. I was told the smaller box with numbers is the readout of my apartment and the big one with disc is his. There is a garage but it isn't heated.


trikk, I can tell you that he told me the previous occupants bill averaged around 125.00 up to 150.00. That was a couple and the man worked and the woman stayed at home a lot. I'm sure they had the AC/Heat running all the time if there was always someone home.