Electric bill came today! (rant ahead)

[scrap_candles]

Sorry if this is not in the right place, I checked and wasn't sure where to put it.


My electric bill has been running pretty high and over the last month I have really made a conscious effort to shut things off, unplug them etc. I unplugged the older (5years old) refrigerator in the garage and everything. And it went UP $18. Making it $268.15 this month.

All of my major appliances are under a year old, the washer, dryer, fridge, and stove. Yes I do have a upright freezer but it was bought right before thanksgiving so its not an older one either. When shopping I checked all the energy tags to make sure things were on the lower end of consumption compared to the others.

We have a 1640 square foot house with a basement and we have used two window air conditioners off and on since the weather has been warmer but the electric bill is running the same as it was in the winter and we have a wood burner for heat with propane used every so often.

It has to be something pulling on my electric. We bought the house two years ago this summer and our lowest bill I think was $180 something. Since then there has been some rate increases so I don't think things have changed too much. I am afraid there are some wiring issues or something that the previous owner has done that is part of the problem but don't know what to start checking or where to look.

Any suggestions? TIA

[Jeanna]

I really have no advice I just know where you are coming from. No matter what I do our power bill is high. My husband says that he doesn't think they really read them. They don't get out of their cars they just ride around and they are suppose to be able to read them from their cars, not sure how. Anyway, no matter what I do it stays high.
Good luck is all I can say.

[druthb00]

Something seems fishy IMO. Especially if you unplugged that fridge in the garage and the bill went up, without a rate incrase in the works. When we first moved into the condo (that we just moved out of LOL) here in FL, I called Progress Energy to put the electric in my name. Had I not passed a credit check, our deposit would have been 2X the averge monthly bill from the previous year. It was $100on average, and no one was living in the unit prior to us! The only thing the owner left on was the A/C set at 76. When we started moving our things in, we found we had no electricity in the living room. BF started pulling plates off and checking voltage and whatnot with his nifty amp meter thingamajig, and discovered that there was a wire feeding electricity straight into the GROUND! He fixed it and our electric bill never went about $70, even running the A/C.

I'm no electrician but it doesn't make any sense that you would be unplugging things, and the bill would go UP. I'd have it checked out if I were you. Good luck

[JanieD]

Could be the rate increases. I've cut a bill by 600kws recently & saved less than $35 2 months ago. This was an 45% decrease in useage from the previous month, but the bill wasn't 45% less due to the recent rate increase. An easy place to start would be to review the 2 bills & compare the actual numbers. I'd also advise checking/reading your meter daily if possible.

Some electric companies can "scan" the meter from a short distance to get a reading & some can be read "remotely" at the actual electric company. Couldn't hurt to call your electric company & ask questions - actual readings each month or estimate one month & read the next; last rate increase % & effective date.

No advise concerning wiring & such, but hope you get this resolved. Good luck

[Contrary Housewife]

I would start by actually checking your own meter readings.

Go over your bills and compare actual usage from this month, previous months and this time last year. Look for rate changes.

Ask your electric company if they do home audits to help you lower your usage.

[mek42]

Also check to see if the current bill was based on actual or estimate. And make sure that you weren't placed into a different plan somehow (such as a "budget" plan that charges you more in summer / less in winter.

[Elizabeth CM]

We recently got a letter from ComEd telling us that our bill was 95% MORE than our neighbors and showing us the comparison - wow.

This may sound drastic, but it helped us find some real problems. First of all, we threw the main circuit breaker and made sure the meter stopped.

Then we slowly turned back on the power while having someone watch the meter. We turned on appliances (big ones) one by one too.

We did this twice...once during day and once just after it got dark. It was an eye opener.

Good luck!!

[Rosebush3]

What are the start/stop dates on your bill for the month? At which points did you unplug things? How many days on this bill compared to last bill, compared to last year this time? Some bills have days less on it than others. Is the rate the same as last month? A better gauge will be next months bill, when those items have been unplugged the entire span of the bill dates.

Also, those stickers posted on appliances can be inaccurate and misleading. Use a Kill o Watt to test for yourself. You may have a defective appliance. We had a fridge going bad and the bill shot skyhigh just before it bit the dust. Even new appliances can break. Kill O Watt meters are available for free at libraries in Maine, might be the same where you are.

[happymomof4]

If you look on your bill it should tell you if it was an estimated reading or an actual reading. It should tell you what how much electricity you used the same time last year.
We have had a 30 % increase in our electric bill this year. They want to go up another 20 % next year. My house has a heat pump so we have electric heat. My bill went up $75 a month during the winter just because of the rate increase. So everything that we saved with being energy conscious went into the rate increase!!

We have different rates for peak hours. Check to see if your electric company has that. I run my dishwasher at night when I go to bed when the rates are cheaper. I try and do all my laundry later evenings or early mornings for the cheaper rates.

Do you use hot water for your laundry? Using coldwater will save alot of money if you have a electric hot water heater. Another ideas is to have a timer put on your electric hot water heater. You can set the time so that the hotwater heater only heats up when you actually are using the hotwater. We have one on ours it helps alot on your electric bill. We have it set to heat up the water in the early mornings and evenings. So during the day when nobody is home the hotwater heater isn't heating up and using electrcity. If you need to you can go flip a switch and have it run when ever you want(like the weekends).

[stinkbug]

How many people living in your home??? That sounds really high...but it's apples and oranges to try and compare throughout the country. Mine is less than 1/2 that on year round budget billing...and we run a large pond pump 24-7. I'd agree with others, check the rates and the readings. If you can't figure it out call them and ask for an audit.

[KentuckySaver]

I would ck my meter daily at the same time each day. Then start turning off / unplugging things to see what is using the most elec. What is your daily average of KW use ??? Just keep checking your meter and you will find the energy thief.