Ugh...

[GT98]

Ok got a problem here...ever since the start of this year my Electric bill has been wacky...I just got done paying a $250 dollar bill and now a $302 dollar bill to cool off my Condo, which is about 1100 sqft with a Vaulted ceiling since I have a loft. When I paided the $302 bill this month I took a look at the usage cart from August of last year...I saw I was using DOUBLE of what I was the year before. I can't explain this since the only addtion that I've added that would eat more power up is my lastest PC, which was put together at the start of this year, but I can't see it doubling my power comsuption if I left it on 24 hours a day (the bill from January to Feb was roughy double $50 to 100 then back down to $50 again in march, but I was having major computer isses with the said system at the time)..

I can see using more power during the summer, but nearly double what I used before? Thats nuts. I know I have an older central AC unit thats from 1987 when my place was built, but I'm looking for other places that would be causing this huge spike in electrical usage over the past 8 months or so.

[Tjalfe]

well get one of those little plug in power meters and get an idea what consumes so much power.. PC's actually use alot, I'd say around $20/month if left on. Besides the Computers, AC is the bigger user, along with anything else with big motors, washer, dryer etc. you may want to get a couple of ceiling fans going, if you have a high ceiling.. especially in the winter time to blow down the warm air, but for the summer, you may be able to get away with just the fans on some days, instead of the AC.
Another thing.. make sure the power company's readings correspond to the actual meter.. they often just estimate your power usage and then do an actual reading every couple of months.

Our power bill went from $80 to $100 for just having my brother move in, in the basement, and from there to $144 when the air conditioner kicked in ... Current price here is $0.055 / KWh

[cjolley]

Could be they didn't read the meter for a while, just estimated, then read it and caught up.

Or, have you started doing more cooking?
Do you have an electric stove (particularly the cook top)
Electric stoves can be HUGE consumers of power. More than every thing else in the house put together (including the AC) if you turn on all the elements.

[Jon P. Inghram]

I remember one time the gas company misread our gas meter, the gas bill went from like $20 to $150 in one month.

[GT98]

Tjalfe, what is this thing your talking about with power meter? never heard of it.

I do have two ceiling fans going, one in the bed room and one in my living room to help with cooling.

I checked my bills...and all but one was reading off the meter, so....

I have a gas range...I really think it could be my AC...it might be on its way out and its running more often since its not working at full capacity...

[Jon P. Inghram]

Things like this:

[rylan]

Get an AC guy to come and do a checkup service on your unit. If its getting low on Freon then it will draw more current as it tries to do the same work. Also check your air filter, and particularly the evaporator in your house. The coils/fins on that can accumulate grime pretty easily.
It has been quite a bit hotter this summer than last, but not enough to double the cooling requirement.

[gt40]

dude!
I've got a 2500 sq. ft industrial unit with A/C and a machine that draws 60 amps at 550v at full load, and even when it's running 8-21 hrs a day I have yet to pay more than 650 cndn for 2 months of electricity

[KvHagedorn]

Are you changing the filter?

[Brian Ellis]

How do you have the aircon set? I noticed it was set to 16°C at a place I visited the other day and, as it could never get down to that temp, it means it was on full blast 24/7. I set mine to 28°C and the compressors run only about ¼ of the time, but the place is comfortable.

However, check also the price increase per kWh. There have been massive increases in all energy costs over the past year.

[rylan]

Hhe said his KWh usage almost doubled though... so thats independant of cost.

GT, how many KWhs did you use?

[gt40]

Hhe said his KWh usage almost doubled though... so thats independant of cost.

GT, how many KWhs did you use?

my last use was 6,300 kwh

[GT98]

My KwH useage for last month was 1,930 The KwH usage went from 37 in 2004 to 67 this past August.

For August of 2004 it was just under 1200 KwH but was about 6 degree cooler on avg

The most I used last summer was 1300 KwH

My AC Filter has been changed out and the Freon was refilled early in the summer. I know my condesnor is starting to rot..so thats why I'm starting to think its that. I keep the AC set at 77F with two ceiling fans running. One running in reverse in the living room to lift the cold air up (high ceilings) and one in the bedroom blowing down to keep me cool at night. I have a electronic theromstat to raise the temp to 79 while I"m at work and while I'm sleeping. I can't find how much I paid last August either, but I think it was closer to the $150 mark.

[rylan]

Hmm that useage does seem kinda high for a condo. Actually my parents have a 3500sqft house with two 220v central air units and they barely break 1200KWh in July/August. Granted its somewhat cooler here during the summer, but not that much.

[mmp121]

I got a 2900 sqft house (sorta new ~ 18 months) with 2 220v A/C units also. I got close to 4 PC's running 24/7. Our electric bill for last month was ~$185. We have the A/C on at 77 during the day when we are in the house( ~ 6PM to 8AM), and 80 when we are not. We used a little over 1550 KWh for last month. Something don't seem right with your usage number.