Help me figure out how Power Co. gets away w/ no meter reads

[tstone]

Originally Posted by Wysiwyg

I think you need to factor in the number of times you opened the exterior doors and time wife takes to choose clothes from the walk-in closet

No kidding.

Actually I did factor in if we did laundry or not. Electric dryer.

[eljo]

Originally Posted by tstone

Logging your usage can be very useful. After we bought a brand new AC system & changed some lights, I logged usage every day @ 9pm for nearly one year. Noted the high & low temperatures as well as if (in binary form) it was a weekday/weekend (if someone was home or gone all day), if we cooked, if we set the oven on fire with self-clean, and if it was sunny (subjective judgment call). These factors were the most influential to usage. Then compiled all data and used multiple regression analysis to get a mathematical model of estimated usage per month. Found out when to reprogram the digital thermostat based on temperature changes to find an equlibrium between cost and comfort per season. Ultimately used the variable electric rates and rolled all this data into our long term (2 year) budget/finance plan. In hindsight I should've inputted a sunrise/sunset field for hours of daylight when and if it was sunny but I was too lazy and didn't think it would make much of a difference. But again, this can be very useful if you know what to do with the data. Nerdy penny pinchers need only apply.

What a very interesting read - gave me some thoughts for future planning.
I discovered some digital plug-in devices, which will automatically record the daily KW useage on just about anything in your home. The one I'm contemplating on aquiring is one for the A/C.
I hope I bookmarked the site.
Later,

Eljo

[tstone]

For AC you can just set it to 60 at 6pm & read the meter, then read it again at 7pm. Turn everything off and read a book or something during that time. Also if your thermostat has a filter-change timer you can get an idea of how many hours that thing runs each day.

Somebody told me about some kind of black or yellow 'box' you can fabricate from breadboard & related parts found at Frys. It will actually slow the electric meter down.

[Wysiwyg]

Originally Posted by tstone

Somebody told me about some kind of black or yellow 'box' you can fabricate from breadboard & related parts found at Frys. It will actually slow the electric meter down.

i think its called an electric fan

[tstone]

something like this
Electric Utility Systems: Slowing down electric meter

But less ghetto.

This explains the black box: http://www.extra.rdg.ac.uk/wkc1/DIY/leccy/msg00043.html
The new digital meters are probably immune to this type of tampering.

[Macharuadan]

We often get estimated bills,since our meter reader will not come N our yard due 2 our dogs,&he is no longer able 2 go N neighers yard&read ours,&basically unless we wanted 2 pay 2 get new digital box on wall,so they can just point&read or we could put dogs N house each time that 2 expect a estimated bill.Our bill is usually 2something(when read),it is 3something or more(when estimated)and this is the cost w/no AC!Ridiculous!You should C our waterbill,we're getting ripped off there 2!

[sbhubbell]

tstone, I find that kind of data logging and mining fascinating. But then I'm an engineer. So are you guys telling me new homes around here don't have the kind of meters they just drive around and read remotely from the street? Everybody in Philly had those!