Very high electricity bill for 1000 sq ft apartment (Houston, Dallas: apartment complexes, insurance)

[newtothisplace]

Probably it is new to me; for the month of August (30 days) I was charged nearly 2000 Kwh for just 1000 sq.ft apartment.

I did search this forum and found many users having 2000 to 2400 sq ft houses stated they had around 1700 Kwh per month.

I was very conservative in maintaining the unit at 78 degress while inside the apartment and 90 degrees during other times.

How can I make sure that all the 2000 Kwh is mine, basically is there a way to check that there is no fault with the meter or my usage is what being billed.

Thanks for your feedback.

[parabrand]

I am eager to hear a response to this.

My wife had a similar experience with her electricity bill -- over $150 with a similar usage pattern as you.

[adixyz]

Energy bills, Water bills and Insurance in Texas are relatively higher than other states. Most Apartment complexes don't have good insulation/ vents /AC compared to homes. Without going into the details, $150 - $200 for a 1000 sq.ft apartment seems reasonable for a Texas Summer.

[DaveG99]

my apartment is about $90 a month and I keep it at 74. Its 841 SF.

[Mr.Bungle]

My apartment is 800sq feet and has a garage on the ground floor, living room on the second and bedroom on the 3rd with attic space above. Our last bill was about $200. We installed a programmable thermostat and keep it around 76ish in the early evening and weekend when we're home and 80 when we're not home. We have terrible insulation, poor window and door seals as well. We have to use floor fans and a dehumidifier to circulate the air.

So I'm assuming that your apartment, like mine, is not too energy efficient. I am told that once we move into our new house, our electric bills should be cheaper. So that is comforting.

[FalconheadWest]

It will depend on if you're on the ground floor, middle being insulated by top and bottom, or the top with vaulted ceilings... However, leaving the place at 90 when you're not home is probably hurting you as it'll take more energy to cool the place off when you are there to bring it down to 78 rather than having it at 80-82 when you're not there.

[pepper131]

Apartments often have a certain electricty provider and you cannot switch; their rates are often very high.
We had an apartment in Houston - tiny 1 br and the elec bill was very close to our 3br house in Dallas. It was ridiculous!!

[newtothisplace]

Originally Posted by adixyz

$150 - $200 for a 1000 sq.ft apartment seems reasonable for a Texas Summer.

I used to pay around $35 dollars for 900 sq.ft apartment and less than $70 for 1600 sq.ft house in CA; $200 is way too much, what is more difficult is we did not get our things until middle of August and practically except for AC and fan we did not use anything in the apartment for first 2 weeks of that month.

Originally Posted by DaveG99

my apartment is about $90 a month and I keep it at 74. Its 841 SF.

That looks a pretty good number compared to mine, thanks for sharing

Originally Posted by Mr.Bungle

My apartment is 800sq feet and has a garage on the ground floor, living room on the second and bedroom on the 3rd with attic space above. Our last bill was about $200.

Probably this unit is not well insulated ( I never bothered about that until now as we were in CA where most of us don't use AC for cooling, in fact most of the apartments don't have AC for cooling we only use to have heaters)

Originally Posted by FalconheadWest

leaving the place at 90 when you're not home is probably hurting you as it'll take more energy to cool the place off when you are there to bring it down to 78 rather than having it at 80-82 when you're not there.

I did go through some of the tips posted by the electricity company; i will try your suggestion too. Meantime I will browse though some more to find more energy saving tips but I strongly believe there is something wrong with the meter or the unit (with poor insulation or very old AC unit) which is causing the high energy use.

[Mr.Bungle]

Originally Posted by newtothisplace

Probably this unit is not well insulated ( I never bothered about that until now as we were in CA where most of us don't use AC for cooling, in fact most of the apartments don't have AC for cooling we only use to have heaters)

We were in CA too. We were 6 miles from the beach and just opened the windows on most days. I think in a year and a half we used the AC 5 times or so. But, we're not in Kansas(CA) anymore and things are different here. See if your complex will let you install a programmable thermostat. Our's did so long as we remove it when we leave.

I know that Costco also sells kilowatt monitors. I'm not exactly sure how they work, but it looks like you plug in your rates and then it shows you how much you're using and what it costs.

[shelbelle72]

When I lived in an apartment in Richardson, (about 940 sq ft) my summer electricity bill was consistently over $200, and I was as careful as you are on the temps. I blamed it on my high ceilings and bad insulation. I did have an inner stairway that led from the attached garage, and I think I lost a lot of energy there. I moved into a 1400 sq ft home in April and my electricity bills are around $100 now. Go figure.