Duke Power bill DOUBLES over last year: HELP! (King, Star: how much, cabinet)

[anifani821]

Originally Posted by ellemaew

Here is an interesting and pretty simple calculator -

Home Wattage Calculator For Home Appliances

This has a bunch of stuff you don't need (reactive and resistive wattage) but it does have a table that lists the common wattages and/or wattage range for some appliances -

Common Wattage of Household Appliances

It would be a bit time consuming, but you could probably Google your appliances and get the manufacturer specs on wattage. It might be worthwhile to get a small meter then that you could check the appliances and see how they stack up to the specs.

Good luck - those bills are scary enough to open when things are going the way they're supposed to!!

Thank you, Ellemaew! All our appliances are recent - none older than 2003, and heat pump - 2006. They are all energy star compliant and indeed, I have felt my electric bills for six years were reasonable and average.

The only thing I can say I do differently, after going thru/ this list, is that I leave my computer monitor on most of the day. However, that changed in Oct 2007, when I purchased it. So if it were the computer monitor affecting things, that should have impacted my bill starting in Nov of 2007.

We use less hot water b/c DH travels more so he is not here to take those showers . . . and I take even shorter showers than I used to, b/c of the drought.

[marvinnative]

Originally Posted by flyingscotsman

Ani

I feel you pain, may I suggest you invest in a kill-a-watt so you can monitor the usage of every item you use.

Also with it being this crazy read your meter every day at the same time and then you can start experimenting.

Flyingscotsman, thank you. I saw one of these gadgets at a gadget store at SouthPark and wondered who would use them. Here's a perfect example.

Kill-A-Watt
ThinkGeek :: Kill-A-Watt

[anifani821]

Thanks, Himain! I just knew it was a fluke the previous three months and so was expecting things to be "normal" this month. I truly felt like crying when I opened that bill.

Hi, Scotsman! Yes, I should get one of those. But I can promise you - I am not gonna go out every day and check that meter, LOL. I have to get a stool to even get up high enuff to read it. I guess I could do it for a week, tho, once it warms up a bit. If that will help me get to the bottom of things - looks like I am going to have to commit to a daily meter check.

[anifani821]

Originally Posted by marvinnative

Flyingscotsman, thank you. I saw one of these gadgets at a gadget store at SouthPark and wondered who would use them. Here's a perfect example.

Kill-A-Watt
ThinkGeek :: Kill-A-Watt

Hello there, MN!!!

Guess I will be investing in a Kill-A-Watt!!! I have to figure this out. This is way too much money every month.

[BrianH1970]

Originally Posted by anifani821

The only thing I can say I do differently, after going thru/ this list, is that I leave my computer monitor on most of the day. However, that changed in Oct 2007, when I purchased it. So if it were the computer monitor affecting things, that should have impacted my bill starting in Nov of 2007.

A computer monitor will not result in 100-150 dollar increases even if you left them on 24 hours a day.

[anifani821]

Ohhhhh - MarvinNative . . . love that website. They have the neatest stuff . . .

[BigJon3475]

Originally Posted by anifani821

Brian, I wanted to CRY when I opened this last bill. And it was not even as dramatic as the bills since October.

Total KWH this month: 5,167
Total KWH last year: 2,627

Avg KWH per day: 167
Last year 101

What could average out to 60 more KWH per day?

Do you have electric backup heat or gas? Also what type of thermostat do you have? (programmable?)

Something to increase your electric use that much would almost have to be stove, water heater, HVAC system.... Only two are really hidden to plain sight that it would take some investigating to figure out that I can think of... the water heater and the HVAC system.

[Tober138]

Not sure if it was mentioned, but what about your neighbors? Are they seeing the same kind of increases or is it just you?

[Hoagie58]

Do you have any underground cabling? Because there is no frost line here, cables and pipes aren't buried as deeply as they are in other places (think Northeast). A knick in an underground cable (especially the 220 cables) could "leak" electricity, possibly explaining your increased usage.

[BigJon3475]

67 kws per day...

2.79 kw per hour. Or about 11.625 amps on 240 volts. That's a water heater, oven element, electric backup heat amount power....

Something is stuck on it sounds like.