Electricity Question

[Landlocked]

Weird question for you guys: I am somewhat of a handy man but when it comes to electricity, I don't know squat.

We have a 2,600 sq ft home and our power bill is regularly well over four hundred dollars a month. This is our first home. Since buying it, I have replaced the water heater, air handler, outside AC condenser, all the appliances, etc. What the hell is pulling so much current? Any ideas, PLEASE?

From the neighbors and family I've talked to, a four hundred dollar power bill is too big for that size house.

If I don't get it corrected, the DEA is going to think I'm growing hydroponic weed in my basement.

Any advice would be appreciated.

-I've also had 4 electricians come out and every one of them didn't take the time to look around good enough to find the problem.

 

[Kimmifunn]

Weird question for you guys: I am somewhat of a handy man but when it comes to electricity, I don't know squat.

We have a 2,600 sq ft home and our power bill is regularly well over four hundred dollars a month. This is our first home. Since buying it, I have replaced the water heater, air handler, outside AC condenser, all the appliances, etc. What the hell is pulling so much current? Any ideas, PLEASE?

From the neighbors and family I've talked to, a four hundred dollar power bill is too big for that size house.

If I don't get it corrected, the DEA is going to think I'm growing hydroponic weed in my basement.

Any advice would be appreciated.

-I've also had 4 electricians come out and every one of them didn't take the time to look around good enough to find the problem.

Just start selling what you're growing in the basement. Then you can pay your power bill!

 

[Kurt]

I assume you're not blasting the AC, but if you have little or no insulation and your AC is running a lot that could be it. Have you covered that base? How old is the house? When did you move in?

Check with power company and see if it was that high over the previous year before you moved in. Tell them your problem. Many electric companies will come out and audit your house and suggest ways to conserve / find problems.

If they won't, look for a good home inspector.

Otherwise, look at your meter and the rate at which you're normally consuming electricity. Shut things down one at a time and see what happens.

 

[DBOldford]

If your electricity bill is for the summer months, it's probably in the ballpark. That a/c really pulls $$$. You did not say whether you had a pool or how it is heated. Our place is about 4,200 sq. ft. on three levels and our summer electric bills run between $400 and $500 per month from May through September. But from Oct. through mid-March, they drop back to about $150 a month. Of course, we don't usually have people in the house then.

We did a thorough energy inspection of our house after we purchased it and here are some things that can really make a big difference. Good luck.

(1) Furnace and a/c filters should be changed monthly. Failure to do so translates into much larger utilities bills and can even result in system failure.

(2) Management companies (and some renters) adjust the refrigerator temps far too low, draining power. We have our housekeeper readjust the thermostat in our fridges after each renter leaves and then we keep it as low as possible during the off-season months. Turn ice-makers off then.

(3) Renters will often crank your thermostat down as low as it will go, then leave doors and windows open. You might consider putting a monitor on your thermostat. However, we feel that renters should be comfortable when they are paying. So as an alternative, we have those self-closer things on all our French doors to the outside. At least the doors are not propped open with the a/c going full-tilt boogie.

(4) Finally, you can have Chelco do an energy audit at no cost to you. They are pretty nice folks.

 

[Mermaid]

I think it's a good idea to have the place audited by the power company. And Donna sure had some good checklists to plow through. Have you looked on the website for the power company? There's usually a whole host of info you can go through--maybe something will pop out at you.

What are your windows like? If they're old windows you could be getting a lot of air leakage. What temp do you set your thermostat at, also?

 

[Landlocked]

Thanks for the advice. The house was built in the seventies and we have owned it for about five years now and the power bill has gradually gotten bigger from year to year.

I also had the attic insulated last winter and it did help with the AC but not with the power bill.

One thing worrying me is we pop lightbulbs like crazy. I'm always replacing them. I'm really hoping this is not a wiring problem/fire hazard. :shock:

I've learned alot of things after buying this (our first) house.

1. Go to the home at night and sit on the back porch for a few hours and simply listen for things you hear.

2. Never buy a home with a ditch ANYWHERE near it. Mosquitos

3. Never buy the lowest house on the block. WET YARD.

4. Never buy a home with aluminum wiring.

5. Before closing, do a history check on all utilities.

6. Turn on every source of water in the house all at once and watch the drains.

7. Make sure the attic is decked. (funny story behind that one).

 

[Wastin Away]

With the age of the home, if you are planning on staying a while, I would put storm windows on. I bet your windows are single pane. A friend of mine did that and saw a big decrease in her electric and heating bill. Also, our power company came out and did an assessment and a big part of our bill are the appliances we have running, plus my kids can't seem to get the concept of turning lights off when they leave a room.

 

[Landlocked]

With the age of the home, if you are planning on staying a while, I would put storm windows on. I bet your windows are single pane. A friend of mine did that and saw a big decrease in her electric and heating bill. Also, our power company came out and did an assessment and a big part of our bill are the appliances we have running, plus my kids can't seem to get the concept of turning lights off when they leave a room.

I'm definitely going to look into storm windows. You can put your hand up to the window in the winter and feel the cold air coming in. One day we'll get it straight.

 

[BeachDreamer]

I've been researching this too, since our bill is nearly double this year what it was last year. For one thing, entergy prices go up or down according to area storms, etc. So your electricity is probably higher per kwh than previously. If you have older appliances, a lot is going to that. A new refrigerator will be much more energy efficient than a 5+ year old one. Your water heater can be set on a lower temperature to save money. Those are just a few things I've been learning, painfully. We just bought a register booster, also, that goes over the vent and sucks out 80% more heated or cooled air. We will be using it in the furthest room from the central unit. Hubby sleeps during the day and needs it cool in there, and it's the hottest room in the house, so I know that's where a LOT of our money is going.

 

[DBOldford]

Yes, yes, yes...on the water heater temp! Our utilities bills shot up one month and we discovered that the hot water was scalding when it came out of the tap. This is a very big one. I can also vouch that double-paned windows make a huge difference in heating and cooling costs. They are more expensive and require replacing when the moisture seal is broken. So you will want to have anyone powerwashing your house to be careful of the windows. Powerwashing is worse than a hurricane for breaking these seals.

If you have a pool, a heat pump is a far more effective way to heat the pool than heating with natural gas.

We have also discovered a few dripping faucets here and there, which made a difference in our water bills. You wouldn't think that one drip could make a noticeable difference, but it does, as does the month you have a powerwash.