SECO Electric, no better than GRU? (Gainesville, Ocala: rent, credit, home)

[AFNCO33]

Thanks.

I did contact SECO. I nearly flipped my lid this morning. I got an email notice on my balance (automatic notice when my balance falls below $35). Yesterday (Wednesday) says we used 82 KWh or $10.02 worth in 1 Day! Here's the kicker, we never touched the thermostat because and left it on 80 all day. Mom had to run grandma to a medical appt in Gainesville and I was at work so we didn't get home until later in the afternoon. Then the power outage hit last night around 630 and was off for a little under an hour.

I tried to stay calm but even they didn't have a good response. He tried to get a manager to approve the energy audit guy to come out and that he would contact me back, but didn't hear back from them yet. I'm dreading what tomorrow's bill is going to say. With the storms we haven't used anything really today.

If I can find the meter in the yard, I told my mom to track hour by hour the reading because something isn't right. I really do hope they determine it's a faulty meter or something because I haven't planned for a $300 Electric Bill.

[dontaskwhy]

The electrical meter is not in the yard, it is attached to the side of the home.

[AFNCO33]

Thanks, we found it.

It's digital. Shows 15327. I'm assuming if we check in an hour or so it should be either the same or go up 1.

What do the other numbers mean? The screen changes from 15327 to 4.4 to 240.2 something and then a screen that makes no sense.

[AFNCO33]

Checked it an hour later. It's now on 15330. That's 3 KWh in 1 hour. The only thing that has been running on/off was the A/C which is set at 80. I had to make a payment to kick my balance from going negative but that energy audit guy better get out here soon. I feel like I'm being ripped off.

[wizrap]

Good luck. We have Clay Electric up here west of I-75 and even though their rates are more reasonable, we are dreading our electric bill as we have been blasting the A/C full force to keep it at 76 during the day. This heat wave is terrible. We had some showers last night, but I don't think we've had as much rain as you've had -- we're just west of Gainesville.

[AFNCO33]

Here is the 24 Hour Watch. We ran an experiment. No one has touched the thermostat it's been on 80 all day and kicking on/off for that.

15327 - 7pm
15330 - 8pm
15332 - 9pm
15333 - 10pm
15337 - 6am
15338 - 7am
15339 - 8am
15341 - 9am
15341 -10am
15342 - 11am
15344 - 12pm
15347 - 1pm
15351 - 2pm
15355 - 3pm
15358 - 4pm
15361 -5pm
15361 - 6pm

Seriously, it takes 3-4 KwH to run the A/C at 80? And we're sweating? I emailed SECO again to ask when they were going to have someone come do an energy audit and have not gotten a reply. I'm stuck at work because it's busy time of year, but this is ridiculous. I'm thinking although I didn't notice it in April and May, I think our usage was even less, maybe only 25kwH a day and that for some reason everything is double the norm.

I've read some scary info about "smart" meters which this one appears to have been installed back in January. For those of you reporting your usage, do you have the new meters or the old analog ones?

I'm fuming.

[rjm1cc]

Yes smart meters have been problems and I think some utilities are removing them.

The age of your A/C could be important. It may not be as efficient as new models.

Have the coils on the A/C been cleaned? Inside and outside? Any mold?

Is the Freon low?

Assume ducks are in the attic so this is a very hot area. Something could be wrong here but I would not check this myself.

If your life style - cooking, lights etc are not changing, which I assume from your posts, the problem has to be related to the A/C or the house insulation.

I noticed you had two times when you used no electric for the hour - or at least not enough to move the counter. This might indicate a problem with the meter.

I would go to your circuit breaker box and turn it off for an hour. Since you are using no electric look at the meter and see if it is moving. You should not be using any electric. Due to the two no usage readings maybe go for 2 hours. If the meter moves maybe someone is using your electric.

I would test the meter before SECO comes out if you can. Then you can discuss the readings with the employee.

Another test would be to ask a couple of neighbors how much electric they use and their A/C settings.

Is your hot water electric?Maybe it is set to high or it is broken. If you have electric I would turn it off for a few hours and see if that changes your usage.

You could also turn off the A/C and hot water for a few hours and test usage. Maybe spend the afternoon at the pool. My bet is an A/C problem.

Just remembered the A/C has a drain line from the inside to the outside. Look outside and see if water is coming out when the A/C is running. If not clean your drain. You should be putting a cup of vinegar in the drain (by the air handler) line each month to stop algae etc from growing. I do not think this is your problem but might as well check.

I live about three miles north of you. About 2,200 sq ft,(energy efficient construction) A/C set at 78, gas hot water, electric cooking, electric golf cart, ducks in attic. May usage was 727 KW for 29 days. 25 kw per day.

For last year KW was a low of about 17 kw per day in Nov and a high of about 34 in August.

[dontaskwhy]

OP, I hope you don't have "ducks" in your attic. Your should have ducts instead.

[AFNCO33]

Well last night during the sleeping hours about 11 KwH was used between 9-6am.

But I think we may have found the culprit.

The Electric Water Heater in the garage, we switched off the circuit breaker and are leaving for the day. From 6-9 the meter was going up over 3kwh again. I hope this solves the problem since we don't really use hot water that much.

Logged into SECO to see this morning's latest report and it billed me for 70KwH again as of yesterday, meaning the last electric meter read must have been a couple hours before we started recording. This is insane and I'm losing my mind over this. I really hope the Water Heater is the issue.

[AFNCO33]

It wasn't the Water Heater issue. We just got back from Tampa. We were gone from 11am -7pm

The meter went from 15388 to 15418!!!! 30KwH in 8 hrs.

I am freaking out. What kind of freaking Electric Company doesn't have a number to call on the weekend? The A/C has been on 80. I literally don't know what to do.