Extremely high electric bill!! Fraud? Broken? Sharing electricity? (apartments, house, roommate)
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Thanks for checking out my issue. As the title state, I am having an insanely high electric bill. The way I live is just like my previous apartments and previous roomates. Those being:
The home is empty 50% of the time.
Most of the time when we are home we are either sleeping or hanging out around the same computer/tv together.
I take cold showers, roomates take like 5 min hot showers on very poor pressure shower heads.
We do cook, but not all that much, no more than usual.
All energy efficient light bulbs/fixtures that are barely on.
We don't use dishwasher.
Our A/C is set to at average 78* (live in FL) windows closed and off regularly. We also close the doors to each room to help circulate the air efficiently.
So an example, my co-worker who lives here in same size apt and clearly uses more electricity, has a bill of $120-150 max, my neighbor same size apt use no more than $150 also... mine? just shy of $250 for first full month. $70 for the first 8 days pro-rated, of which the apt was not moved into until the 3rd day, so technically $70 for the first 5 days.
My electric bill before was also about $120-150 but I used a lot more. I can't understand, and the maintenance people are seemingly so puzzled, that I have to try and solve this myself. Any clues or tips on how to overcome this would be so appreciated.
Thanks for checking out my issue. As the title state, I am having an insanely high electric bill. The way I live is just like my previous apartments and previous roomates. Those being:
The home is empty 50% of the time.
Most of the time when we are home we are either sleeping or hanging out around the same computer/tv together.
I take cold showers, roomates take like 5 min hot showers on very poor pressure shower heads.
We do cook, but not all that much, no more than usual.
What's the temp of your hot water heater? Just because you take cold showers doesn't mean your hot water heater isn't heating water on and off all day long. The higher the temp, the more electric you're burning.
All energy efficient light bulbs/fixtures that are barely on.
We don't use dishwasher.
Our A/C is set to at average 78* (live in FL) windows closed and off regularly. We also close the doors to each room to help circulate the air efficiently.
Is your AC working properly? Is it keeping the unit within 2 degrees of the set temp? I'm in S Fla and it's hot as hell now..it was 97 yesterday and my unit was at 80 for several hours because it's just so hot. (ac is set at 78, with blinds closed to block the sun) Keep all the door open...you're trapping the warmer air and making the unit warmer.
If your AC isn't keeping your unit within 2-3 degree (at the hottest part of the day) have them some and service your unit. The older the unit, the more electric it will use. They will not replace the unit just because you're getting high electric bills....the unit has to be dead in order for it to be replaced.
So an example, my co-worker who lives here in same size apt and clearly uses more electricity, has a bill of $120-150 max, my neighbor same size apt use no more than $150 also... mine? just shy of $250 for first full month. $70 for the first 8 days pro-rated, of which the apt was not moved into until the 3rd day, so technically $70 for the first 5 days.
My electric bill before was also about $120-150 but I used a lot more. I can't understand, and the maintenance people are seemingly so puzzled, that I have to try and solve this myself. Any clues or tips on how to overcome this would be so appreciated.
Thanks!
If what you're saying is true, your AC is what's sucking the electric...have them come and check the AC to make sure it's working properly.
As I said, I live in S Florida..1200 sft unit on the 3rd floor, run my dishwasher 3 times a week, run my dryer 3 times a week and have the hot water set at 130 and my last electric bill was $125.
Keep track of your bills for a few months and see what happens...but the hotter it gets, the harder your AC is working and more the electric it's going to use.
Also, your roommate might be changing the AC settings, taking long hot showers or baths or using appliances that suck electric.
If you have your own electric meter and the power is in your name then call the utility company and ask them to come out and check. If your landlord provides the electricity and bills you separately then he needs to do the same thing if the bills for your unit are substantially higher than similar units.
If you have your own electric meter and the power is in your name then call the utility company and ask them to come out and check. If your landlord provides the electricity and bills you separately then he needs to do the same thing if the bills for your unit are substantially higher than similar units.
good advice....I'm assuming they have their own meter and are billed separately....that might not be the case.
As I said, it's hot and humid here and my brain is fried. lol
Do the drill. Turn everything inside off and set the AC way high and read the meter. you should be able to turn it all off. If you cannot you need to find where it is going.
Then turn things on one at a time. Check the usage over 16 minutes. If you find something real big you got the problem.
It is not unheard of for shared items like outside building lights to be tied to some apartment. It is one of those convenient accidents that happen to LLs.
So unplug everything in the house and run the A/c for 16 minutes.
and then turn everything on one by one. got it.
What kind of numbers should I be seeing in the meter that indicate high usage?
Also, I checked my meter and it's a t nearly 95000 while all others are at about 45000. Except my downstairs neighbor is at 20000. So I'm probably paying his bill too?
So unplug everything in the house and run the A/c for 16 minutes.
and then turn everything on one by one. got it.
What kind of numbers should I be seeing in the meter that indicate high usage?
Also, I checked my meter and it's a t nearly 95000 while all others are at about 45000. Except my downstairs neighbor is at 20000. So I'm probably paying his bill too?
No, set the thermostat high enough so it doesn't run. The idea is to make your meter stop.
Maybe a leak in the duct system or filters not replaced which causes the air flow not to be as it should.
Maybe someone stealing your power but that doesn't seem to be the case since in that case your bill probably would be way higher.
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