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Paco...the breaker size is only part of it. They are also on 220 volts. And basically it was only 220 volt circuitry that could push those wattage levels.
You are correct. Let me rephrase, the bill went up roughly 11.9 kilowatts/hr and most large residential electric water heaters are 4.5-6.0 kilowatts/hr when they are on, so there is a huge mismatch that should indicate that the problem is not the hot water heater.
You are correct. Let me rephrase, the bill went up roughly 11.9 kilowatts/hr and most large residential electric water heaters are 4.5-6.0 kilowatts/hr when they are on, so there is a huge mismatch that should indicate that the problem is not the hot water heater.
Please get your units correct.
Energy is kilowatts times hours (kWh). Power is kilowatts (kW). The water heater consumes 4.5-6 kilowatts when it's on, not 4.5-6 kilowatt/hr. When the water heater runs for N hours, it uses 4.5N-6N kilowatt-hours. Since there aren't 1000 hours in a months, it's unreasonable to think a 4.5-6 kilowatt load would consume 4000 kilowatt-hours in a month (didn't he say on the first page of posts that his bill went from 6kWh to 10kWh for the month?).
10kWh at the national average of around 12 cents per kWh is $1200 a month.
(didn't he say on the first page of posts that his bill went from 6kWh to 10kWh for the month?).
10kWh at the national average of around 12 cents per kWh is $1200 a month.
That was stupid of me.
The OP said his consumption went up 4000 kWh in only two weeks of the new water heater.
In 2013, the average annual electricity consumption for a U.S. residential utility customer was 10,908 kilowatthours (kWh), an average of 909 kWh per month. Louisiana had the highest annual consumption at 15,270 kWh, and Hawaii had the lowest at 6,176 kWh.
The average residential electric bill was 909 kWh @ 12.12 cents per kWh = $110.20
In August 2006, Al Gore burned through 22,619 kWh of electricity. The OP using 6000 kWh per month means an electric bill between $8-$9 thousand per year.
In 2010-11 season cold I paid $2,933 electric (23.5 mWh) + $5,622 oil (1,877 gallons) = $8,555. We've done our best to reduce that amount, but $7,280 is the best we've done and it is uncomfortable. We would love to convert to gas, but the gas supplier will not come to our neighborhood.
The water heater is working fine. My HVAC company replaced the compressor in our 5-month-old heat pump. The electric meter is now spinning much more slowly
PacoMartin have you considered going to propane? Viable alternative to natural gas.
In most markets, oil heat is cheaper than propane (even taking into account relative efficiencies of appliances), but neither comes close to natural gas:
In most markets, oil heat is cheaper than propane (even taking into account relative efficiencies of appliances), but neither comes close to natural gas:
The market is going to vary in different locations, generally propane is fairly expensive especially here in the northeast. Oil only recently dropped and was comparable to electric ion many areas last winter. The electric rates are fairly high in NH soi it's not a great example of the cost of electric.
Paco lives in NEPA, his best option other than natural gas is coal which is going to be about $10-$12 per million BTU delivered. I believe he lives in really large house and the initial investment would be substantial. It's all gravy after that.
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