Stupid electricity/Austin energy question (West: 2015, gated, bill)

[mesmer]

We haven't investigated this much yet, but does anyone know how electricity usage would jump 50-100% in a single month? Drastically higher usage than previous summers? Is it possible to have a broken meter? Anyone know of any glitches like this with Austin Energy? I can't think of anything that's changed about our usage. Our bill this month was shocking (pun intended).

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by mesmer

We haven't investigated this much yet, but does anyone know how electricity usage would jump 50-100% in a single month? Drastically higher usage than previous summers? Is it possible to have a broken meter? Anyone know of any glitches like this with Austin Energy? I can't think of anything that's changed about our usage. Our bill this month was shocking (pun intended).

If you are low on refrigerant in the AC unit, that can drastically affect your bill. Your compressor will have to run much more than if the tank was full. That is probably the most common reason for an 'inexplicable' increase in usage. There are other possibilities - mis-read of the meter, torn duct in the attic, etc.

[cBach]

Well it's been 100 degrees everyday for 2 months now.

Try putting the thermostat at the warmest possible setting. Every 1 degree rise will save a lot off your bill.

Up north people keep the heat real low to save money. Down here we keep the temp real high to save money. 77-79 degrees is not an uncommon setting among those that want to save money.

[mesmer]

Thanks Trainwreck! We'll look into a recharge. We got it done five years ago but our system is very old. So we'll take a look and see if we have any other symptoms. Popping our heads up into the attic isn't the worst idea either.

I think I'll also turn off the breakers today and check that the meter isn't running just to be sure.

I did realize we made one change earlier in the summer - a new thermostat. Maybe 76 on the new one isn't the same as 76 on the old one. So we did bump that up a degree. We haven't otherwise changed our temperature settings in years - since we had kids and felt we needed to lower it a degree or so. I have a hard time believing that could be the sole source of the jump though. It's just very drastic.

2015 summer kWh - Jun: 1659, Jul: 1681, Aug: 2945
2014 summer kWh - Jun: 1648, Jul: 1911 , Aug: 1983, Sep: 1828

[machupichu12]

You can check daily usage from the Austin Energy app.

[FalconheadWest]

Also check your filters. I had an owner with an AC that wasn't cooling, and when we got the AC guy out, the unit was in working order but the filter was disgusting and blocking air flow.

[Trainwreck20]

Oh, and make sure your billing cycle did not change. I don't think they would arbitrarily do that, but you never know. I mention this because your July is lower this year than last year for very similar (or slightly higher) temp this year:

July max-mean-min (avg.)
2014: 95 - 85 - 74
2015: 96 - 86 - 75

Of course, you billing cycle is probably not 1st to 1st of each month anyway, though.

The month of June this year was slightly cooler than last.
June max-mean-min (avg.)
2014: 91 - 83 - 73
2015: 90 - 81 - 72

[mesmer]

Originally Posted by FalconheadWest

Also check your filters. I had an owner with an AC that wasn't cooling, and when we got the AC guy out, the unit was in working order but the filter was disgusting and blocking air flow.

We did our filters when we did our thermostat - early June. So while it is time for a change, it's not so far behind that it should cause a problem.

[mesmer]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Oh, and make sure your billing cycle did not change. I don't think they would arbitrarily do that, but you never know. I mention this because your July is lower this year than last year for very similar (or slightly higher) temp this year:

July max-mean-min (avg.)
2014: 95 - 85 - 74
2015: 96 - 86 - 75

Of course, you billing cycle is probably not 1st to 1st of each month anyway, though.

The month of June this year was slightly cooler than last.
June max-mean-min (avg.)
2014: 91 - 83 - 73
2015: 90 - 81 - 72

We were gone for part of the July billing cycle (which isn't 1st to 1st, but close enough to the end of the month for my purposes), but we were also gone for the first few days of the August billing cycle too. Our thermostat was set at 86 or 87. So that explains the July drop. It could mask the change in thermostat for sure. Still hard to believe it was so off to create that much of a difference, so I'll keep poking around.

Definitely not the meter... and now I have to reset all the clocks.

[mesmer]

Originally Posted by machupichu12

You can check daily usage from the Austin Energy app.

Thanks, I'll look into that.