Reasons for high electric bill?

[Jenny3]

I wanted to see if I could pick your brains on my electric bill. For the last two years, it's been ridiculously high - especially in the winter. I've talked to the provider (which is my local borough); they have not had a rate increase since 2009 and ran tests on the meter - which is working perfectly.

My house is very solid, made all of brick, built in 1935. About 1650 sq ft so not huge at all. All the windows in the house (33 in all!) were replaced 5 years ago with high-end vinyl, insulated ones.

I have a brand new energy efficient heater (less than a year old) and gas heat. Gas cooking, gas hot water. Hot water heater was replaced last year. We have radiators for our heat and do not use space heaters. We do not have central air. No garage, basement is used for storage (minimally finished)

Appliances are pretty standard - dishwasher, fridge, garbage disposal. We have a total of 4 TVs - but one is used for watching DVDs only and very minimally. Washer/Dryer are front-loaders and energy efficient.

My electric bill has been over $200/mo! I just cannot figure out what is sapping up so much energy. It's almost double what it was two years ago and we've replaced items since then. Any suggestions??

 

[Mary2e]

Unplug the little used TV.
Check to see if there are lights on in unused spaces such as attics
Do you have motion sensor floodlights outdoors? Check to make sure they're not coming on all the time
Do you run computers 24/7? If so, each one is about $5 per month. Ditto if you have a Tivo or similar DVR
Are you running more than 1 refrigerator? We turned off an old one (15 years old) and saved nearly $20 per month. It could also be malfunctioning. Or if it's not full, it will use more energy.

We have motion sensors indoors in the laundry room and we discovered that they were partially powering the lights in that room costing us about $10-$15 a month. We replaced them and the bill became more normal.

 

[mrsklamc]

You didn't mention your washer/dryer or computers? Any changes? Any chance your laundry appliances aren't running as efficiently as they used to? Is airflow blocked anywhere it shouldn't be? (fridge, dryer vent, etc?)

 

[WizardLarz]

Resently on 'Ask This Old House' (PBS) they did a show about Appilance upkeep. Keeping the coils of the Fridge clear was something that I realized that I never thought of doing. Also With you dryer cleck the Lint trap & exhaust hose at both ends to make sure it is clear, when these are clogged the dry needs more enery to get the job done.

 

[maurene]

33 windows seems like a lot for a house that size. Might partially explain high heating costs but wouldn't explain the increase costs you've seen in the past 2 years unless the winters have been colder these past 2 years. Do you have adequate insulation in your attic? Do you have a programmable thermostat?

Online, I can see our electricty bill divided in major categories of energy useage (i.e. heat, lighting, etc..) and it also compares my usage to the average for the neighborhood. Can you get that kind of detail from your power company?

 

[davedmaine]

I wanted to see if I could pick your brains on my electric bill. For the last two years, it's been ridiculously high - especially in the winter. I've talked to the provider (which is my local borough); they have not had a rate increase since 2009 and ran tests on the meter - which is working perfectly.

My house is very solid, made all of brick, built in 1935. About 1650 sq ft so not huge at all. All the windows in the house (33 in all!) were replaced 5 years ago with high-end vinyl, insulated ones.

I have a brand new energy efficient heater (less than a year old) and gas heat. Gas cooking, gas hot water. Hot water heater was replaced last year. We have radiators for our heat and do not use space heaters. We do not have central air. No garage, basement is used for storage (minimally finished)

Appliances are pretty standard - dishwasher, fridge, garbage disposal. We have a total of 4 TVs - but one is used for watching DVDs only and very minimally. Washer/Dryer are front-loaders and energy efficient.

My electric bill has been over $200/mo! I just cannot figure out what is sapping up so much energy. It's almost double what it was two years ago and we've replaced items since then. Any suggestions??

That's not that high. Poor insulation in an old house, which is why your costs are higher in the winter. The heater will still draw electric

 

[MinnieFan4ever]

Can you shop around for other electric companies? Here in Texas we can. I shopped around and found a company that was 30% less and also got a $250.00 gift card for signing with them.

 

[quikah]

How many KWH are you using?

That's not that high. Poor insulation in an old house, which is why your costs are higher in the winter. The heater will still draw electric

Depends, OP mentioned radiators so it may or may not have an electrical component, could be a gravity fed gas boiler. But mentioning that the bill is higher in winter could point to a bad water pump in the system.

 

[ironpig70]

Spent the last 2 years in school for this kind of stuff.

What you need is an energy audit. I would ask the utility compnay if they do it or can give you some names of people who can do it.


They will check check for air leaks and energy problems.


It is well worth the money as the people who do this stuff now what they are looking for and have the special tools to find them.

 

[Jenny3]

OP here... on my phone but will try to answer all the questions asked.

We empty out the lint trap on the dryer regularly. The washer and dryer are fairly new.

Attic is very tiny, maybe 8x10. I am not sure of the insulation, will have to check that.

We do have a programmable thermostat.

The house is all brick, very solid. No air leaks anywhere I can think of. It's well insulated from my knowledge. We have a lot of double and triple windows, which were counted individually when we bought them. I'm also including the 7 new windows in the basement in that count.

One refrigerator. I'll check the coils.

Two laptops and one DVR running

No motion detector lights. We turn every light off every night, except a nightlight upstairs and the dining room (turned down)

Our boiler is brand new, everything was replaced so I don't think it's a water pump.

We can't switch electric companies, unfortunately. They do not provide a breakdown in how our power is used. I want to guess our winter usage has been 1400-1600, which is almost double the amount from 2010 and back.

It's just the last two years that have really jumped; I can't figure out why.

 

[tracaline]

This may not apply to you, but have you had any large trees cut down in the past few years? My family did, and that made a difference (mainly in the summer, it provided a lot of shade) but it also made a difference in the electric bill in the winter too (older house, no central a/c, build of stone and had radiators). I don't really understand why it happened, but it did and that was found to be the cause.

 

[PatMcDuck]

Our problem went on for a very long time..... it was the sump pump.

We discovered it when something went wrong, a fitting got loose. DH went to reattach it, and the water in sump hole was HOT. First we thought it was from the new furnace, it has condensation feeding into the sump hole. We had that re-routed, and water was still hot. And that ground water should be just about freezing cold!

Things returned to normal with new pump. A plumber agreed it would take an awful lot of energy to heat that water and keep it hot, 24/7.

We have a new furnace, and an energy star home now, new attic insulation, the only problem left is the drafty windows (not on the to-do list).

 

[EMAW_KSU]

Our problem went on for a very long time..... it was the sump pump.

We discovered it when something went wrong, a fitting got loose. DH went to reattach it, and the water in sump hole was HOT. First we thought it was from the new furnace, it has condensation feeding into the sump hole. We had that re-routed, and water was still hot. And that ground water should be just about freezing cold!

Things returned to normal with new pump. A plumber agreed it would take an awful lot of energy to heat that water and keep it hot, 24/7.

We have a new furnace, and an energy star home now, new attic insulation, the only problem left is the drafty windows (not on the to-do list).

That is why I track electrical usage on a spreadsheet.

 

[kt_mom]

Our electric bill is out of control. We are on the rolling average plan and right now its up $290/month but a couple months this winter I know the actual bill was over $300 and one month it was around $400.

We just had both of our heat pumps go out and had to replace them just after the first of the year. I was really hoping to see a difference in our electric bill but it wasn't much at all.

We don't have an old house, it was built in the mid 90's about 2400 sq. feet plus a partially finished basement but we never use it. I think DH closed the vents downstairs. And we keep both upstairs and downstairs set between 68-70.

We cut all the lights off at night except for one over the sink and two nightlights upstairs. We do have 5 TV's and 4 Dtv boxes, two of which are DVR's. We have two laptops but they aren't plugged up all the time. I guess I should unplug the 2 TV's that are rarely used though. We used to have 2 refridgerators but the one in the garage isn't working anymore. I think its still plugged up though so I need to have DH get rid of it.

We work and are out all day during the week so no one in the house running TV's and lights. I just don't know what is driving the bill so high each month.

 

[bigmamimia]

Have someone stand out at the electric meter and another person at the circuit breaker. Turn the breakers off and then back on one at a time and see which makes the biggest difference. When you have figured out what zone is causing the large electrical usage start unplugging and turning off in that zone. You should be able to identify the problem. Are you in a single family home?

 

[writersblock42]

The only thing that I could add would be do you wash your clothes in hot water or cold water? Cold water really saves a lot of money and gets the job done just as well.

 

[MomToOne]

While your utility may not have had what they term a "rate increase" since 2009, there is a good chance there's been a flat fee or tax increase somewhere along the way which drove costs up. I get hit with those year after year - my usage only makes up about 70% of my bill at this point. The remaining 30% is all other mumbo jumbo they add on top of that. You need to compare your 2010 bills side by side with the 2012 bills, and see where the cost differences are - be it in usage, or other items that end up in the bill.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

DH said you might want to invest in a electrical usage meter. It cost $25-30 and you plug it into the outlet and then plug an appliance into it and it will tell you how much electric the appliance is using.

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

DH said you might want to invest in a electrical usage meter. It cost $25-30 and you plug it into the outlet and then plug an appliance into it and it will tell you how much electric the appliance is using.

exactly the suggestion I was going to make. My dad bought one of these recently - he seems to love it.

 

[Jenny3]

I am in a single family home. The sump pump is older, but DH just replaced it this morning as it died. I wash in warm with a cold rinse.

I'll check into the energy audit, check my bills and the energy usage meter. Thank you!

This is just so frustrating! My SIL has a 3,000 sq ft house and pays less than I do in electric. I just don't get it.