Computer is comsuming 463w on idle

Satsumomo

Hello there!

My electric bill skyrocketed this month (From paying $20 it went up to $65). Looking for culprits it seems that my meter is crazy when my computer is on. Using this calculator my meter does 1 whole revolution every 56 seconds.

I don't leave my computer on all day, I use it quite a lot, maybe 12 hours a day, but it's mostly web surfing or listening to music, nothing demanding. I also have my computer set to the "Power save" mode.

Unfortunately the meter doesn't seem to have it's Kh written on it, so I'm supposing it's 7.2 as the site suggests.

Now, my computer specs:

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 overclocked to 3.6Ghz (From 3.0, 20W increase)
Nvidia GeForce GTX460 768mb (Supposed to consume 19w on idle)
2GB x 2 of DDR2 RAM
Biostar I45 ATX motherboard
2 x 7200rpm SATA-II hard drives
1 x DVD burner drive
1 x PCI card (Soundblaster)
4 x 120mm fans
1 x 80mm fan
Corsair TX750 PSU
1 x 22" LCD monitor

According to PSU calculator, my computer should consume 366W on 90% load.

So things are getting weird here.

This what my CPU and GPU look like when idle:





CPU sits at around 35ºC and GPU at around 32ºC

No processes at 100%

What should I be considering? I did move my computer from place, could the wall outlet be bad? Has the PSU gone bad? Please help, just writing this is costing me! :P

Edit: Just had an idea, I'm going to leave a lightbulb on. One that I know consumes exactly 15W, and I will see if the meter is reading this correctly.

Edit: Well on further inspection, I found the KH factor. It's 3.003 so my idle consumption is around 180W. Crud. Why did my bill shoot up like this?

Zeon

Are you on a payment plan where the company averages out your bill for the entire year, and then sends the meterman out annually to get an actual reading? I know most places have switched to that kind of billing (rather than the meterman coming every month for more accurate billing) which leads most people to have bills of like 40-50 dollars for 11 months of the year, and then 190 dollars 1 month of the year.

You should call the power company and ask them why this bill is so much higher than the other bills youve gotten. Explain to them nothings changed. I have a feeling though youre on an "estimated usage" billing plan, which, unfortunately, is generally the only payment plan electric companies have these days (because, you know, sending out guys to read your meter is too expensive... apparently).

Satsumomo

Yeah, I'm usually on an estimate, thing is, they had just billed me for the whole year, and for some reason they came to read the meter again this bimester, and whoah, 650KWH for the period.

I'm definitely calling them tomorrow, there seems to be something wrong around here.

Improvolone

$20 seems extraordinarily low for a power bill to begin with

Satsumomo

Minimum wage is much lower here etc.. etc..

OnTheLastCastle

He could live in an apt. Mine is $20-30 most months in a 2 BR apt during non-summer months.

FyreWulff

Have you been there more than a year? Do they show you your usage from last year? They're more than likely billing you based off last year. The power company and utilities company around here does that.

For example, my mom got charged 260$ in October for gas/electric because she used something like 3600 units last year (Early brutal winter), and even though she only used 170 or so this year, they were still billing her based off the previous year. The previous month it was like 60$.

However, if you think the meter is going crazy when it should not be, you can request the utility company come take a look at it.

Gilbert0

Zeon wrote: »

Are you on a payment plan where the company averages out your bill for the entire year, and then sends the meterman out annually to get an actual reading? I know most places have switched to that kind of billing (rather than the meterman coming every month for more accurate billing) which leads most people to have bills of like 40-50 dollars for 11 months of the year, and then 190 dollars 1 month of the year.

You should call the power company and ask them why this bill is so much higher than the other bills youve gotten. Explain to them nothings changed. I have a feeling though youre on an "estimated usage" billing plan, which, unfortunately, is generally the only payment plan electric companies have these days (because, you know, sending out guys to read your meter is too expensive... apparently).

Do this.

As someone who works for a power company (I'm even on the Metering and Billing team), this is always the first thing to do. It could be a simple answer that they know the specifics on. My bet, is what already has been suggested

1) You were getting (very cheap) estimates on your power and now that they read it, you're getting the real bill.

2) It could have been colder / darker now so you are using more power.

3) Call them and ask for someone to do a check on the meter. If you live in an apartment / multiple unit house, ask to make sure that you are not crossed with another unit.

You said 650 KWH for a "bimester", how long is that? If it's around 1.5 months - 3 months, that sounds fine depending on size of your house.

EDIT - Another thing to look at is JUST THE USAGE. Different utilities charge different amounts in the winter vs summer vs time of day. If the usage is similiar but the bill is more, they could be charging you more.