Freaking out over my electric bill/meter...

[RedTartan]

I got my electric bill and it was double what it usually is. I called to tell them there must be a mistake. They had my husband read the meter. They read the meter yesterday. We gave them the new reading this morning. They say that the new meter indicates that we used 900 kw in a single day!

There's got to be something wrong with my meter, right?

She wasn't willing to say that there was anything wrong with the meter. She said something in our house must be malfunctioning and pulling more electricity than it should???? What?! I've never had an electric bill this high. Even in the hottest part of summer when I run 3 window units to keep the house cool, I have never had a bill this high.

It's going to take them 14 days to send someone out to check the meter! 14 days?

I'm sorry if this post is choppy. I'm upset and can hardly think straight.

[Cara]

It must be everywhere...we were talking last night about how much all of ours jumped this month, and we don't have any cold weather at all compared to you!

[Karenrbw]

Our electric bill was $276 last month. That is the highest it has ever been. We used to run three heat lamps out in the barn for baby goats in the winter and it was never even close to that.

[Usingmyrights]

It could be anything. It doesn't take much for the bill to go up. Mine is 3-4higher in the winter when it gets really cold. Unfortunately the blower is out on my woodstove so it isn't putting out much heat. When the temps drop down into the low to mind 20s it seems like the heat pump runs all night. Even in the lower 30s it runs alot. Plus I have stuff setup to keep my citrus trees from freezing. It all adds up. 900kw is alot though

[Molly Mckee]

Meters can malfunction. They either almost stop or go crazy. We had one at our business that failed. However, many electric rates went up this month.

[Cabin Fever]

Go back to your last two bills. Look at the number of kWh used during both months and the charge per kWh for both months. Then, get back to us with the numbers.

[TnAndy]

Originally Posted by RedTartan

They say that the new meter indicates that we used 900 kw in a single day!

Be pretty hard to do that in a typical residential house.....but then you don't say anything about your situation.

What type of heat do you have ?

Do you have an electric water heater ?

Do you use electric for any other type of space heating ( barn, shop, chicken house, etc ) ?

Heating elements are the biggies....any other electrical use ( lights, appliances, etc, couldn't come close to using that much power in 24hrs )

To use 900kw/hrs in a 24hr period, you would have to use 900,000/24 = 37,500watt per hour. 37,500/240v = 156amp....continuous for 24hr.

That's a HECK of a lot of power in house situation.

Even with an electric furnace, or the emergency heat strips on in a heat pump, they only pull 10 to 15kw......10 to 15,000watts.

You could be running TWO of them wide open for every minute of 24hrs and still be under what it would take to hit 37,500 watts per hour.....and you'd probably notice it being 99 degrees in the house !

My guess is bad meter.

[agmantoo]

After seeing TnAndy's amp calculation I verified and yes he is correct. It did not register with me that the current was that high. Your supply wiring should have either tripped the breakers or burned the wiring by now. The wiring would IMO have to be shorted to ground to draw that much power for a residence.

A few questions ....if you have an electric hot water heater is the water excessively hot? Do you have power run underground from the meter in question to other places on the farm?

[Cabin Fever]

Originally Posted by TnAndy

....My guess is bad meter.

Or, the meter was improperly read.

[jersey girl]

We did have a fridge that went haywire on its way to dying. Didnt notice it untill BIG electric bill came. Meter was running like a Ky. derby horse. Figured out the fridge was bad, unplugged and things got beter.
The news has been warning of electric rates going up also. I sure hope it is only your meter

[Melissa]

Yes, start doing some investigating. Look at the meter and see how fast it is turning, then start unplugging appliances or shutting off breakers. I am curious to know what is causing the problem. And I hope you get a break on that bill...

[Johnny Dolittle]

Here in western Pennsylvania the residential rates have in some cases (depending on which company you have) increased as much as 30% starting this month due to deregulation.

[ronbre]

vacuum under all your freezer/refrig units, unplug any chargers or radios, clocks, etc that are plugged in that aren't being used..replace all regular bulbs with cfls..turn off all t v 's when you leave the room, and lights too but lights aren't that big a deal..switch to using led's when you can esp with night lights..

feel of things like your circuit breaker boxes for electronics and see if they feel hot, if they feel hot they are using too much elec..there are better ones avail and they are power saver types, cost more, but save you a bundle..un plug computer or shut off the breaker for them when not in use.

we saved half on our bills by doing these things.

[mamaof3peas]

well, mine went from no more than $200 to $400 this month!! crazy!

[RedTartan]

Originally Posted by TnAndy

Be pretty hard to do that in a typical residential house.....but then you don't say anything about your situation.

What type of heat do you have ?

Do you have an electric water heater ?

Do you use electric for any other type of space heating ( barn, shop, chicken house, etc ) ?

Heating elements are the biggies....any other electrical use ( lights, appliances, etc, couldn't come close to using that much power in 24hrs )

To use 900kw/hrs in a 24hr period, you would have to use 900,000/24 = 37,500watt per hour. 37,500/240v = 156amp....continuous for 24hr.

That's a HECK of a lot of power in house situation.

Even with an electric furnace, or the emergency heat strips on in a heat pump, they only pull 10 to 15kw......10 to 15,000watts.

You could be running TWO of them wide open for every minute of 24hrs and still be under what it would take to hit 37,500 watts per hour.....and you'd probably notice it being 99 degrees in the house !

My guess is bad meter.

I have gas heat, gas water heater, and a gas dryer. We have one space heater we use in a room that doesn't have enough floor vents, but I used it last winter too and didn't see my electric bill go up. In fact, my gas bill went down when I started using it.

I can't get the exact numbers off my bill this minute because my son is using my laptop for his school work. I'll report the actual numbers in a bit.

My brother is an electrician and my husband has already decided to flip all the breakers to see if the dial is still spinning when everything is shut off when he's through working today. I'll have my brother check some stuff out when he comes by to pick up his son this evening.

I don't think the meter was read incorrectly either time. When we read the meter this morning, we did it just as she told us to. Left to right and if the dial is between two numbers, read the lower one.

I will let everyone know what we find out.

[Our Little Farm]

Originally Posted by mamaof3peas

well, mine went from no more than $200 to $400 this month!! crazy!

OMgosh! If mine was as high as $200 I would have a fit!

Hope it is a mistake on their part Red Tartan!

[TnAndy]

Originally Posted by Cabin Fever

Or, the meter was improperly read.

Yep....that's the other ( and more likely) possibility, for sure.


900kw/hrs in 24hrs works out to be something in the $100 PER DAY range for those of ya'll not able to translate Kw/hrs into dollars.

My electric bill averages 46 bucks/mo.

[Pam6]

I have got ESTIMATED readings for the last two months in a row! The first one was nearly $100 higher than my normal bill and the second estimate was closer to a normal bill. My mom is getting her bill messed around with estimations too!

[RedTartan]

Ok, I have the actual numbers:

The bill for Jan usage: KWH used = 2615

Dec usage: KWH used = 1261

Nov usage: KWH used = 1585

Last Jan usage: KWH used = 1211

The price of my electricity has remained unchanged during this time. I pay .06 per KWH

[TnAndy]

Originally Posted by RedTartan

I have gas heat, gas water heater, and a gas dryer.

Well, those are your big users right there.....and since they are gas, it can't affect your electric bill very much. So I say no way can it turn 900kw/hrs in a 24hr period.

Bad reading, or bad meter.