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Electric bill way high -- what do I do?
Cognisseur
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So I live in a 1 bedroom apartment in NYC (650 sq ft). The building has built in AC, and my landlord told me when I first moved in that the AC/heating was paid for and all I had to pay for was the fan in my unit that blows that hot/cold air in. I'm no longer sure this is the case, as you'll see.
So last month I get my bill and it jumped from 440 kWh in April to 600 kWh in May. Oh no, I think. I better do a better job of keeping my lights, computer and fan off when I'm not using them. So I think I'm doing pretty good throughout all of June. I just got my bill -- 869 kWh. In NYC, that's $234.26.
But this is ridiculous. I can't in any way imagine how it could be so high. Here is literally everything in my apartment that draws electricity:
-Utilities like fridge, microwave, oven: 1-2 kWh per day I imagine (I have an Energy Saver fridge)
-Computer, pretty decent hardware and big monitor: 250 Watts in low use, 500 Watts in high use is my best guess, so even if it was at max use every waking hour of the day, that's 8kWh per day.
-Living room lights: eight 60-watt floodlights, making 480 Watts total, so if they're on all day just like we're wrongly imagining the computer is, that's 7.5 kWh per day.
-The fan: it's on all night to block out sound, and it's on part of the time during the day to keep the apartment cool. I have no clue how much electricity it uses.
That's it. I have no TV, no other lights are on really, nothing else but my girlfriend's tiny netbook. Add that up, it comes to 17 kWh per day accounted for, whereas this month I apparently used 27 kWh per day. Given that I'm intentionally using exaggerated time estimates, being off by so much is pretty concerning. Where is this more than 10kWh per day coming from? A single fan cannot generate that much, even if it is on for like 18 hours a day. Even if I were paying for AC without knowing it, wouldn't this be too high?
I really don't know what to do about this situation. I don't think they're misreading the dials but I don't think I could be using this much electricity either. Help!
So last month I get my bill and it jumped from 440 kWh in April to 600 kWh in May. Oh no, I think. I better do a better job of keeping my lights, computer and fan off when I'm not using them. So I think I'm doing pretty good throughout all of June. I just got my bill -- 869 kWh. In NYC, that's $234.26.
But this is ridiculous. I can't in any way imagine how it could be so high. Here is literally everything in my apartment that draws electricity:
-Utilities like fridge, microwave, oven: 1-2 kWh per day I imagine (I have an Energy Saver fridge)
-Computer, pretty decent hardware and big monitor: 250 Watts in low use, 500 Watts in high use is my best guess, so even if it was at max use every waking hour of the day, that's 8kWh per day.
-Living room lights: eight 60-watt floodlights, making 480 Watts total, so if they're on all day just like we're wrongly imagining the computer is, that's 7.5 kWh per day.
-The fan: it's on all night to block out sound, and it's on part of the time during the day to keep the apartment cool. I have no clue how much electricity it uses.
That's it. I have no TV, no other lights are on really, nothing else but my girlfriend's tiny netbook. Add that up, it comes to 17 kWh per day accounted for, whereas this month I apparently used 27 kWh per day. Given that I'm intentionally using exaggerated time estimates, being off by so much is pretty concerning. Where is this more than 10kWh per day coming from? A single fan cannot generate that much, even if it is on for like 18 hours a day. Even if I were paying for AC without knowing it, wouldn't this be too high?
I really don't know what to do about this situation. I don't think they're misreading the dials but I don't think I could be using this much electricity either. Help!
Cognisseur on
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What kind of fan is it?
Is your water heater electric? They use quite a bit of electricity.
Not really, no. I use 400-500kWh a month with minimal appliances, a couple computers and a fan running at night to drown out my annoying neighbors. I've hit 1000kWh in the winter with electric baseboard heaters. Even an efficient A/C unit is going to use a fair amount.
What seems crazy is what you're paying, it's rare that my bill goes over $50 a month.
Edit: Those lights aren't helping you, my brightest CFL bulbs are only rated at 23W. I know specialty lighting can be hard to replace, though.
Model: WPV 191
Voltage HZ/PH: 208/230/60/1
Comp RLA: 6.7
Comp LRA: 48.0
Min Volts: 197
Cooling BTUH: 20,000
Cooling EER: 13.6 (some efficiency rating?)
-Edit- This may be the heating/cooling unit that I supposedly don't pay for, not the little fan I supposedly pay for.
Is your computer monitor an old CRT? Those things eat power like no one's business.
Currently painting: Slowly [flickr]
The problem is these are dimmable lights, and when I looked around Home Depot the dimmable floodlights like mine are pretty damn expensive. Essentially it'd be close to breaking even, and only if they last as long as possible.
But in any case, the lights are making up a tiny chunk of the huge amount of electricity I'm using here. I've got other problems and I don't know what they are.
And my monitor is a nice new widescreen, not a CRT.
My bill says it's an actual reading, so no luck there.
Edit: I just checked my electric bill for comparison. I am running what sounds like more than you and I am averaging just about 300khw/month. Granted my heat is a hybrid gas electric, but that's no where close to my bill even when you factor my gas costs in.
Currently painting: Slowly [flickr]
Yeah, that's around what I would expect my monthly usage to be. I can consider getting other lights in the future but my current problem is a little bit more dire and most likely unrelated to my lights. One computer, a few lights, and a few utilities should not cost this much.
But what can I do about it?
Currently painting: Slowly [flickr]
Get your lease out and call your landlord
I used to live in an apartment building where the heat/AC was supposedly "paid for." What that really turned out to mean was that the total AC and heating bill for the building was divided evenly among the tenants.
wonderful
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
So I should be pretty set, right? My landlord is a very cool guy and I'm sure if I'm paying for the whole thing right now he'll help me find a way to fix this. Out of curiosity, how can one? Would we have to estimate how much the AC/heating had cost all year or what?
I mean just the fan can't run those kind of costs, but a big AC unit could, is that correct?
I suppose if your bill is very much higher than other tenants for similar use, you could have your AC unit checked to see if it is running inefficiently for some reason.
Assuming that's not the case though, why not just continue to pay per usage?
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
You might try turning off all your electrical appliances and see if the meter is still showing usage and comparing that with normal usage. with a little figuring you should be able to calculate your consumption for a short period of time at normal usage and no (low) usage. Ideally, you could shut things down during a period of high demand & this may show if something is mis-wired & your meter is supplying more than your apartment.
is it seriously $234 for 869kWh of usage? what kind of extra fees are going on in that bill?
I'm in Chicago, and the highest our bill has been for a three bedroom apartment was around $160 for 1500kWh (which wasn't our actual usage, but an inflated estimate by the electric company). I'm sure electricity is more expensive in NYC, but $234 for 869kWh seems absurd.
It's about par for the course around here, I live just up 95 in CT and my average price/kWh is between $0.25 and $0.30
Yes that seems high to me too. Here the largest we had was also an estimate month at 2208kWh for $171.48 for a 2 bedroom prefab with an older hot tub, oil furnace, 2 comps running 24/7, washer/dryer/dishwasher mostly daily usage and the TV is on about 12 hours a day. I would seriously suggest talking to your landlord about the airconditioner, and also if the meter is attached to the right apartment. This seems awfull high for an apartment. Hell we used to pay $45/month for a 2 bedroom apartment.
Basic charge: 30 days @ $0.13410 /day = $4.02 *
Step 1: 666 kW.h @ $0.06270 /kW.h = $41.76 *
Step 2: 1259 kW.h @ $0.08780 /kW.h = $110.54 *
Rate Rider at 4.0% = $6.25 *
Innovative Clean Energy Fund Levy at 0.4% $0.65
* GST $8.13
Total = $169.84
I must say I do love BC Dams if this is what I get for it.
For comparison's sake, by the way, my neighbors in the same building with a hand full of kids were paying less than 50 bucks a month.
Long story short, I had an electrical leak. It was in my ceiling fan, and was basically leaking a ton of electricity regardless of whether anything was turned on. The landlord fixed it, and the problem went away.
Another interesting tidbit I learned: I was rarely home at the time, and therefore kept my refrigerator almost completely empty...which apparently used up more electricity than having it jammed full of food.
Yeah, that's normal. The stuff that's already in there will hold a chill better than empty air. You can make your freezers more efficient by placing jugs of water in it to freeze too.