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My electric bill is way high..... why?

#1
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11/11/06 at 6:41am
  • Joined: March 2002
  • Location: Wausau, WI
  • Post Count: 1,022
I live in a 2 story 3 bedroom apt.
I do no laundry (at my house atleast)
3-4 Showers (family) a day
1 dishwasher a day
2 lcd screens
computer
1 tv
40 degree weather, so a little electric heat but not much........

im somewhat uneducated as to electric bills. They were always for my family of 5 right around 160-200 which people even told me was high.

any idea why my bill is 350.00? it seems so crazy, and if it keeps like this, when we get our cold wisconsin winter and its 0 degrees out my bills gonna jumpo to 600 !!
Anybody with knowledge care to add anything?


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#2
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11/11/06 at 7:22am
  • Joined: December 2001
  • Location: Columbus, OH
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Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

It can be the small things that count. Do you leave chargers for your cell phone and iPod plugged in? Make sure there are no empty power strips that are turned on that are connected to outlets. Scan your entire house for potential power-sucking culprits. Has your bill always been this high, or is this an unusual spike?

What do you turn your heat up to?


The man I loved - the man who vanished - he never came back at all. But maybe he's still out there, somewhere. Maybe some day, when Gotham no longer needs Batman, I'll see him again.
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#3
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11/11/06 at 8:17am
  • Joined: December 2003
  • Location: Charlotte, NC
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Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

Since you're in Wisconsin, your utility company may be billing you on the average. This allows you to pay the same every month instead having really crazy bills in the coldest month.

However, your bill seems really high. I lived in an area for the past couple years that would stay in the teens and 20's during the night in winter. I paid gas and electric on average and combined they were about $180/month for an 1100 sq ft place.
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#4
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11/11/06 at 8:19am
  • Joined: January 2003
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Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

Check your bills and compare to previous months...they should tell you how much electricity you've used and the rate. Either your rate has increased, or you've used a lot more elec. (as Thomas has explained) - or both!

My elec. bill increased immensely when they raised the rates and I started leaving my desktop PC on all the time.
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#5
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11/11/06 at 9:13am
  • Joined: June 2001
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Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

Or, someone might've tapped into you? You could kill the main breaker and see if the meter still spins. Also, your utility company may be able to provide you with a loan of a power consumption meter that you can place on various devices to determine the kW consumption.

"Thinking is what a great many people think they are doing when they are simply rearranging their prejudices."
- William James

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#6
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11/11/06 at 9:53am
  • Joined: March 2006
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Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

You pay by the kilowatt hour, first off.
Has that increased lately versus the old bills????

This link is easier than me trying to type it out!!!

http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/cost.html
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#7
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11/11/06 at 10:09am
  • Joined: March 2006
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Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

Now, what to do about it????

Get pissed???? Change things???

All compact fluorescent in use here. Total cost about $200, saves me $18 per month on average and havent changed one in 2 years. That I cant say for the normal bulbs I once used.
Jacket on hot water heater and pipes insulated where they can be. Now I've lowered the base temp of the water heater to get the same water temp at the faucets. Saves on average $8 per month, $75 cost to do.

Those are just 2 simple examples, but I've gone one better.

WINDMILL!!!!!

Lets just say I went from a budget of $180 per month to $50!!!! With grants, special loans etc, it will have paid for itself in 5-6 years and last 15+ years.
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#8
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11/11/06 at 10:49am
  • Joined: December 2003
  • Location: Charlotte, NC
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Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

How old is the place you live in? If your windows and doors are leaky then you'll want to take care of that before it gets much colder. Check out the weather-stripping section at Home Depot or Lowes. It's really not all that expensive. Also, there is some clear plastic stuff that you can put over windows and shrink it with a hair dryer if your windows leak.
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#9
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11/11/06 at 11:41am
  • Joined: January 2000
  • Location: South Jersey
  • Post Count: 2,139

Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

If you don't have AMR (Automatic Meter Readers), there is a possibility the the meter reader just read the meter incorrectly. You can request a new reading or just wait until next month when you will have a very small/no bill due to the previous month's reading error.

J
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#10
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11/11/06 at 4:28pm
  • Joined: June 1999
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Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

http://www.energyhog.org/
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#11
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11/11/06 at 6:24pm
  • Joined: December 2004
  • Location: KY
  • Post Count: 1,773

Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

Quote:
any idea why my bill is 350.00?

That does sound high. We are a family of 4 in a 2,000 sqft house. Everything runs on electric here. (heat, hot water, etc..) We don'thave the heating issues here but, we run the AC. We keep the temp on 68 year round. We have 4 ceiling fans on low that we never turn off, 3 computers running, we leave the back door open about 5" so the cats can use the pet door in the storm door. Our electric bill averages at $150 with the worst at $170.
Cave Country Weather
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#12
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11/11/06 at 6:39pm
  • Joined: August 1998
  • Location: Othyrworld
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Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

Is your neighbor running a grow op?
DVD Reviewer, digitallyOBSESSED.com | Othyrworld
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#13
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11/12/06 at 4:53pm
  • Joined: October 1998
  • Location: Boise ID
  • Post Count: 7,206

Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

I live in a 1980 square foot house by myself. All heat is gas (water heater, furnace, fireplace, stove/oven), but last month my electric bill was $22. And I have lots of lights, an electric clothes dryer, and my desktop is left on all the time (but with LCD monitor). For comparison, last month's gas bill was $43.

Feline videophiles Susie and Dukie.

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#14
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11/12/06 at 7:02pm
  • Joined: August 2001
  • Location: Clearwater, FL
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Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

My electric bill was running about $50 high during the peak of summer. Turned out to be my waterheater, which was developing a crack.
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#15
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11/13/06 at 12:55am
  • Joined: December 2001
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Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

$350 is really high. Even during the heat of summer (AC) in Southern California where electric is through the roof we only paid an avg of $126. I live in Illinois now and our average bill this year is $75 (according to my bill spreadsheet).

By way of comparison, our November bill showed we were paying $0.08275 for the first 400 kwh, and 0.06208 for the next 387kwh equaling $57.12 just for the pure kwh. Tack on the other fees and taxes we have a bill of $68.27. Our heat and stove/oven is gas.

Everyone has good advice - look for power hungry devices or someone stealing power. Compare with past bills and see if the number of kwh you're being billed for is excessively high, etc.

-paul
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#16
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11/13/06 at 5:01am
  • Joined: December 2001
  • Location: SE Pa
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Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

Is the bill an actual reading or estimated? Around here, every other month or so is estimated. They base the estimate on past history for that month. If it's an actual reading did the meter reader goof? If the meter is read by electronic transmitter, those have been known to go bad too.

-Dave
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#17
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11/13/06 at 9:32am
  • Joined: November 2002
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Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

I've been seeing my electric bills go through the roof as well. I have gas for heat, hot water and cooking but my electric bills can be close to $300. Thats with barely using my ACs in the summer. Although my bill did "drop" to $115 last month, its still higher than it ever was at my previous home.
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#18
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11/20/06 at 5:16am
  • Joined: March 2002
  • Location: Wausau, WI
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Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

See, I thought 300 + HAD to be wrong. Im gonna wait until i get my new read. see if it has gone down at all. You guys are saying that 150-200 seems to be more Average. But mine is double!

the past 2-3 weeks at my home have been hell. My family views me as the electricity nazi. I also have adhd. So here am following my kids - my wife and everyone else around, turning lights off, turning off heaters, ATLEAST 20 + times a day!. I hate it. I swear Im gonna be dreaming of electricity!

Im not on any average billing thing. they offered me that but said i would probally lose money.

I dont want the cops thinking im growing dope. Come over my apt. with a heli. lol. Im putting plastic on the windows later today.

I will let you guys know what i figure out....BOO FOR WI PUBLIC SERVICE~


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#19
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11/20/06 at 6:55am
  • Joined: February 2000
  • Location: Northern VA
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Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

drain your water heater to see if a bunch of sediment has gathered at the bottom. it takes more energy to heat the water through dirt & other particles
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#20
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11/20/06 at 7:41am
  • Joined: January 2003
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Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

Quote:
Originally Posted by dave_brogli
See, I thought 300 + HAD to be wrong. Im gonna wait until i get my new read. see if it has gone down at all. You guys are saying that 150-200 seems to be more Average. But mine is double!
Definitely compare usage and rates. Who knows, maybe your electric company raised the rate?

as for $150-$200 being average - my home town owns an electric company, so we have the cheapest electricity in the state. I live alone, my condo is 1234 sq. feet (gas heat and water) and my electric bills can range between $75 and $150.
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#21
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11/20/06 at 10:15am
  • Joined: June 1999
  • Post Count: 298

Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

Ahhh... electric bills.... mine for july and august were embarrassingly high.
Here in CA, edison has developed a new tiered pricing, where the first
10kwh a day are about 9 or 10 cents, up to 30% over your 10kwh is still
9 or ten cents.... above that and the rate goes to about 63 cents per kwh.
Worse than a damn cell phone.

I think what was driving mine for the most part was my family leaving on
their ceiling fans all day long, on high... four of them at about 100 watts
each adds up quick. They used up a good portion of my alotted 10kwh a
day.

I bought, from amazon.com, a device called "kill-a-watt meter"... you plug
whatever you want into it, computer, refrigerator, home theater, and it will
tell you how many watts it's sucking down.
Great investment for finding ways to cut down on usage. I was very
surprised at what is being used.

The key is to not look at what each one supposedly costs per hour, but
to look at how many kwh's your pulling and try to keep that down to
what you're alotted.

And as for you being an electricity nazi.... I'm probably worse... if my wife want's
to run the AC, I make her go without tv for as long as she wants to run the air.
One or the other. Still trying to convince her though that those damn evil clothes
she's wearing that's making her hot.
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#22
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11/20/06 at 2:34pm
  • Joined: July 2006
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Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

Quote:
Originally Posted by TimDoss
And as for you being an electricity nazi.... I'm probably worse... if my wife want's
to run the AC, I make her go without tv for as long as she wants to run the air.
One or the other. Still trying to convince her though that those damn evil clothes
she's wearing that's making her hot.

Haha. I rarely hear the reverse of the WAF.
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#23
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11/20/06 at 2:56pm
  • Joined: January 2003
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Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

Quote:
Originally Posted by TimDoss
Still trying to convince her though that those damn evil clothes
she's wearing that's making her hot.
but, I find women to be much hotter when they aren't wearing clothes.
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#24
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2/7/07 at 11:00pm
  • Joined: July 1999
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Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

It is time to dust off this thread.

I live by myself in a 927 sq.ft. condo in Dallas that has electric heat.

I was home for 21 days and I was miserly with the heat. I never use the dryer. My electric bill for those 21 days was over $200 - unbelievable. I checked the meter and it is correct.

I get charged 15 cents a kilowatt for the first 1000 kwh and then between 13-14 cents after that.

I counted all the light bulbs that I have. I have 30 bulbs! I didn't think that there was that many. I have now replaced the majority of them with compact fluorescent bulbs but there are some halogen bulbs on track lighting that have no CF equivalent.

As TimDoss suggested, I bought the P3 4400 Kill-A-Watt meter from Amazon and I will report back on how much electricity my appliances are using.

This is the reason given for the high electricity bill from the TXU website:

Increases in the cost of electricity in Texas are closely tied to the rising cost of natural gas. That's because a significant portion of electricity generated in Texas is fueled by natural gas. From 2004 to 2005, natural gas prices have increased by over 100%.
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#25
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2/7/07 at 11:18pm
  • Joined: June 1999
  • Location: Central Arkansas
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Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

Where I live, we get it anally from both the gas company (Reliant Energy) and the electric company (Entergy). I live in an 1800 square foot home. During the winter my average gas bill (thermostat set to 60 deg.) is close to $200 and during the summer the light bill (thermostat set to 78 deg.) easily touches $350-$400. Last August, the light bill was a tad shy of $500!!!! All of my lights are fluorescent, I do laundry once per week (electric dryer) and shower twice daily. I cook very little using my gas range and do not leave my computer on while I'm at work. Both companies have just asked for a rate increase as well. The gas company asked for (I think) 14% and the electric company is trying for 8-10%. It really sucks not being part of a utility corporation.
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#26
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2/8/07 at 5:17am
  • Joined: March 1999
  • Location: NJ
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Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

Hey Dave, want to move in with me??

My electric bill last month was $11 and some change... Frankly, even I think that is quite low, since my typicaly electric bill is about $14..

Seriously, I don't think the electric utility has the same problem with the gas utility since I don't think there are inside electric meters unlike some gas meters (like mine).

Because of some inside gas meters, some utlities use an estimated reading and not an actual reading. About a year ago, the gas company installed a wireless transmitter on my meter so now they can actually read the meter without relying on me calling it in or guessing based on history.

They also have some electrical gadgets that read current and might be able to tell you if you have a "leak" somewhere that is running.

P.S. my gas bill last month was $20... I guess I better turn down the water heater some more... (J/K)

Jay

You are the crispy noodle in the vegetarian salad of life

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#27
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2/8/07 at 6:12am
  • Joined: April 1999
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Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

Assuming your neighbors have similar-size apartments, I'd see if any of them will tell you what their electric bill is, but 350 sounds awfully high, even in winter.

I don't think little items like cell phone chargers are your problem, either.
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#28
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2/8/07 at 6:14am
  • Joined: May 1999
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Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

My house is about 1800 square feet as well. In the winter my bill is about $90. In the summer it is about $100. So it's not too bad.
Middle Georgia Storm Chasers
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#29
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2/8/07 at 3:23pm
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  • Location: Albany, NY
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Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

Does you gas company allow you to report meter reading, Jay? Mine does, and I do so regularly now so as to avoid estimated readings (which just rub me the wrong way)
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#30
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2/8/07 at 4:36pm
  • Joined: March 1999
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Re: My electric bill is way high..... why?

Adam: Yes, and that was what I doing before the gas co. installed the wireless transmitter. Now I believe they just drive up the road and read everybody's meter instead of having somebody walk around and record it.

I just turned my furnace on for the first time this winter..I'm going away this weekend... (I heat by wood stove only)

Jay

You are the crispy noodle in the vegetarian salad of life

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