$82 electric bill for 700 sqft no ac apartment? (San Diego: appliances, townhouse)

[liz451]

Is this right? Is electricity through Edison that much more expensive than Phoenix (where we moved from)? We have an 800 sq ft apartment with no ac or washer/dryer and just received this for our first full month. We have a couple tower fans we use in rooms and one tv. I'm not sure how energy compliant the kitchen appliances are but they are only a few years old. In Phoenix in our two story 1600 sq ft townhouse when ac was off our bill would only be $70/month!

And yes, I do plan to get on the website and do some analysis but I'm just frankly shocked! My brother lives in San Diego and his is typically $40/month with a very similar set up so was expecting a bill much more along those lines.

[Galaxie Girl]

Does the first bill perhaps have some start-up costs rolled into it? Does the bill say what your actual usage is? My SoCal Edison bill shows my usage, I would think they all do.

You're right, that's way too high if it's just for usage. Assuming you're using typical amounts of electricity and the bill does not include a start-up fee, you may need to contact Edison and/or your landlord to see if maybe something is wired wrong, or something else is wrong.

[Fran66]

Tower fans especially and TV use the most electricity in the house/apartment. A neighbor of mine used 2 tower fans 24/7 for one month in her 800 sq. ft. apartment, and her bill was $150. I knew it was going to be high -- she wouldn't listen to me until after she got her bill for that month. (Of course, she also watches TV 24/7 too.)

[certsevtxert]

Originally Posted by Fran66

Tower fans especially and TV use the most electricity in the house/apartment. A neighbor of mine used 2 tower fans 24/7 for one month in her 800 sq. ft. apartment, and her bill was $150. I knew it was going to be high -- she wouldn't listen to me until after she got her bill for that month. (Of course, she also watches TV 24/7 too.)

$82? Pretty cheap... I've seen up to $500 for a small 2 story house in Seattle, which has one of the lowest electricity rates in the country. Mainly because of electric baseboard heating though I think. Something SoCal doesn't really need to worry about!!

Looks like I won't have to worry about high electric costs!

[Fontucky]

Originally Posted by liz451

And yes, I do plan to get on the website and do some analysis but I'm just frankly shocked! My brother lives in San Diego and his is typically $40/month with a very similar set up so was expecting a bill much more along those lines.

Historically, SDG&E is more expensive electricity than SCE, so something doesn't add up here. What heats your water?

[taraox]

Does the first bill include the deposit/start up fee? That might be why. My last apt in OC (with Edison) was over 1000sq/ft with a/c and all that, and my bill was never over $30/month. If we ran the a/c in the summer (not non stop, just once in a while as needed) it never went past $60. I turn off lights and things I'm not using, don't leave the tv on etc, but that sounds pretty high. Then again, it depends how many people are there, what's plugged in, and whether your appliances etc are energy friendly. Another thing that can run it up a LOT is if you use a dishwasher, I don't cook or use enough dishes to justify running it so that might've been why it stayed low. It was slightly higher if my roommate ran the dishwasher or was home more than usual (cause she would sit and watch tv for hours on end with all the lights on). This sometimes put the bill at $35, so not that big a change. On the other hand, I had a tanning bed that I use a couple times a month, and it still never went past $30 when I was living alone.

[liz451]

It definitely doesn't include the deposit, that was already paid. The bill clearly states the electricity (and of course misc fees with at come with every monthly bill) make up the $82. Apparently we went into "tier 3" usage. Which again, is confusing because you'd think those with AC would get into those higher tiers.

My boyfriend took the bill with him to work to look online but I will report back on exactly what it says beyond the tier 3. I do work from home so am on laptop+monitor all day usually with one fan going but again, exact same situation when we lived in Phoenix just in a place half the size so the bill shouldn't be identical (theoretically!).

[PacoMartin]

That would be roughly 560 kilowatts where I am from. What was the kWh on your bill?
A fan running 24/7 shouldn't be over 25 kw. It's difficult to get that high simply running computers, TV's, cordless phones, refrigerator, and fans. You need something that is generating heat. A hot water heater coupled with some curling irons might do it.

Your company should give you at least daily printout, if not hourly. Maybe someone is tapping into your power.

[taraox]

That sounds a little high even for the tier 3. Our tier 3 with the a/c on occasionally was $60 but you don't even have a/c. Is there a way you can have someone check that everything is properly plugged in or something? I'm not sure how to express what I'm trying to say (sorry, long day and I have a huge headache right now!), but is there a chance something is operating incorrectly or hooked up wrong and causing the bill to go up? You can also usually log into your online account and see the little charts that show the kw usage, I used to be able to tell from the chart exactly what days my roommate stayed home from school because there would be spikes in usage on her days off from watching tv, running the washer/dryer, lights on etc. It could at least show you if the usage is spiking at certain times (like when the fan is on) or if its constant? I don't know if they still have that but they used to. I would find out from neighbors/the landlord what a typical bill for your unit looks like because I definitely think that's odd based on my own experience in an apt with Edison. I actually live out of state now and miss them a lot compared to my current energy company!

[brainwashed_in_church]

SDGE highest tier is around $0.29/kWh.

Does the original poster use regular light bulbs while his brother uses CFL?

I doubt if any fan is going to use more than a couple hundred watts. Considering it's about 750 watts per horsepower, I doubt anybody has any fan resembling more than a 1/2 hp motor. So, worst case a 200 watt fan running 24/7 is 5 kWh/day or about $1.50 per day.