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Turn off EVERYTHING and unplug all wall modules. Look at your meter and see if it is still turning. If it is, go back and keep unplugging things. If you reach a point where the meter stops you can rule out leaching/stealing.
If everything is either off or unplugged and it still turns then suspect leaching/stealing.
So upon research. I found that at average a a small family in a 2000+ sf house with AC at 75 uses 1700kw a month or 50ish a day. My dad's 2 bedroom house with ac at 77 and using so much more electricity than me says he gets 25+ a day. Now for the numbers. I double checked again and found I run about 3kw every 25 minutes or, 170kw a day, or 5100kw a month...
When I unplugged it I was still at 1kw every 15 minutes ish. It's hard to find how fast it's going cause it's too fast for a meter but too slow to just hang around and wait to see a change.
First off the object is to stop the meter. And it should be relatively straight forward to stop.
If you cannot get it to zero by turning off and unplugging start throwing breakers to off. If you turn off al the branch breakers and you still get meter movement you need an electrician and are almost certainly being ripped off either deliberately or by accident.
If you do get it off you can then turn things on one at a time and get an idea of where the big load is.
Another thing I have seen happen is that you are being billed incorrectly. Your meter should have a number thats on your bill. Turn on a bunch of stuff. Go out and find that meter. Take a look at all the others, make sure they are all moving.
turn your circuit breaker off. Now....has one of the other meters stopped spinning? Thats your real meter. And theres your problem.
I'm not saying this is what happening, but stealing of the power IS possible...
I lived in a tiny tiny studio apartment, above a supposedly vacant apartment, and had a horribly creepy property manager. A couple months into my lease, parties starting taking place in the apartment below mine, even though no one lived there. My electric bill doubled. It turned out that apartment WAS on my meter (intentionally, we assume.) There's more to the story... really, a horror story. But that's the power portion of the story....
Are you signed up for a plan where they charge you a steady price monthly to make up for seasonal fluctuations?
+1. That is a total rip-off, IMO. What the electric company does every time is send you a bill every year saying you didn't pay enough. And then you never know for sure because they just pull these numbers out of their you-know-what I live in Houston, TX most of the time, and I feel the OP's pain acutely. It is so hot and humid. We are already pushing 100 degrees with about 70% humidity. Ugh. My 1500 sq foot house has an electric bill around $300/month, and we run our home about 76 degrees. It's a newer home, built in 2007.
To the OP, definitely check for electric theft. Be sure your landlord isn't running multiple apartments on your meter. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen occasionally. Do you live in an upstairs apartment? (I don't recall in previous posts). Of course heat rises, and that can make a big difference in your bill. Be sure and change your A/C filters at least every two months. If you have a pet, the hair clogs up the filter much faster, and it makes your A/C unit a lot more inefficient. Keep your blinds/curtains drawn all the time, and check that your windows and doors are insulated well. Also, the electric company often just estimates, and doesn't actually get their patooties out to your apartment to check how much electric usage you used. And guess how the estimation always goes? They say you used MORE, not less, than your actual usage. Finally, shop around for different electric companies and get the cheapest you can find, if there isn't a monopoly in your area.
I live in California in a 2300 square foot older home with original single pane windows... etc.
My daily kWh is 12 and pretty consistent year round at 360 kWh per month.
Definity sounds like some type of motor/pump is on your power...
Happened to a friend of mine... she had very high bills for years and I suggested she turn off her power 100% when she went away for a month to take care of her mother...
She emptied out the refrigerator and had the power company stop service.
When she came back she heard there were all kinds of problems at the complex in her absence... the Whirlpool stopped working and so did the sump pump when it rained... did lots of damage to several ground floor units...
Guess what... both were on her meter.
In California you can sue for more than damages if power is purposely diverted...
She threatened to do so and had copies of her letters over the years... the complex credited her for 7 years calculated power and she agreed to settle.
Her case was very strong because the diverted power went to common areas that the owner knew or should have known.
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