I am a young mother of two and I know nothing about this stuff. I am getting the run around everywhere I turn. I have paid heating and cooling people for nothing and even paid for answers to my questions online from supposed hvac techs but their answers were incorrect. I'm sure you are busy but I would be ever so grateful for your input! 3 years ago I bought a new modular home. The electric company came out and ran the overhead line from the transformer to the house.

The house is all electric. Everything was fine until the first winter in January when I received the electric bill. It was almost $400! I thought this was high because my highest bill at my previous all electric residence was about $ 250 in the winter. At the same time I noticed that when the furnace kicked on the lights dimmed and stayed dim until the furnace kicked off. I paid a furnace guy to come out and check everything. He said all was good but suggested a relay be put in. It made no difference in the dimming except it delayed the dimming 5 miutes. So instead of the lights dimming as soon as the furnace kicked on ,they dimmed a5 minutes after and still stayed dim..

Not long after that, I noticed that not only did the lights dim and stay dim when the furnace was running, but the microwave slowed down and dimmed if it was on at the same time and ran normal as soon as the furnace kicked off. The same for the vaccuum , carpet cleaner ,central air etc. So, obviously the house is not pulling in enough electric for things to run the way they are supposed to. The electric company didn't see anything wrong with the almost double usage. This January I received my bill and just finally had enough! It was $ 564!! I know electric went up in cost but geeeezzzz. I called another furnace man and I showed him how the microwave dimmed and the turntable slowed down when the furnace came on and how the lights stayed dim. He measured with a meter a 15 volt drop in power when the furnace kicked on. He said he didn't want to get into the problem and suggested I call an electrician. I called one and he said call the electric company and have them check their end. This was in January. I immediately called the electric company. Just 2 weeks they finally came out and put a voltage recorder on my meter for 3 days.

Today they said that they detected a big drop and they are going to come out and run a thicker wire from the transformer to the house and that should fix the problem. I asked if that will make a difference in my electric bill and he said no. my usage is what it is. I think he's full of it. If everything was working so much harder to run , it seems that this would make my usage higher right? Of course I wouldn't expect the power co to admit that but I am planning on asking them to credit me something off my insane bills at least from January of this year when I called them. But I wanted to get a professionals take on the situation first so I have some knowledge to argue if need be.I just got my electric bill today. In the compare usage section it says that this time last year my usage was in the 3,000 kwh. It says last months was in the 4,000kwh and this months is 5,400 kwh!! My thermostat has been set at 68 degrees all winter.

I even put plastic up at the windows to block any drafts. We are so careful with the lights and our usage. How can it keep getting higher and higher?? It has to be the wire that they are going to upgrade. So, after all this that's my question. If the wire from the transformer to the house was not thick enough would that cause a higher electric bill? I hope you can help. Thank you so much for your time!

Sincerely,

Mymouseygirl


***EDITED to Include Paragraphs*** TKRUSSELL

Replaced real name with user name

I'm sorry you are having these problems. Replacing the wire to your home will probably solve the dimming issue, if it is undersized. As far as usage, you may have to do a little investigation. Keep in mind the power company will do as much as they can to help you, to satisfy you as a customer. It's a good idea to start with them. Loose connections will cause flickering in the system. After the power company replaces the wire you will know right away if that was the issue. The dimming lights is an issue you must address, and a qualified electrician will be able to determine the cause. PLease keep in touch with this.

Can you provide some information on the furnace? Such as make and model number.

Missouri is correct about the utility wire being too small can cause lights to dim, loose connection will cause the flickering.

But neither will cause your electric bill to increase.

Just to get something into perspective for my own purpose, 5400 KWH works out to be average of 31.25 amps of draw each hour of a month.

31.25 amps x 240 volts = 7500 watts x 720 hours (30 days x 24 hrs/day) = 5,400,000 / 1000 = 5400 KWH

That is an absurd amount of power used every hour of a day/week/month in a home.

With an understanding of the furnace, perhaps we can identify that it may be the cause, such as a heat pump that may have the auxiliary electric heat is stuck on for some reason, for example.

Clearly something needs to be done to find the reason for such high electric bills. We here can only do so much with giving advice, what to look for, etc. You will need to find someone that can come in, have a good understanding of the issue and what to look for.

The utility will help to a certain extent, but there responsibility stops at the meter. They are responsible for delivering 120 and 240 volts to the meter, usually +/- 5%, and to provide an accurate KWH meter.

Who is your electric utility?

Have they checked the meter or replaced it?

Insist they change their cable quickly, as voltage below the tolerances I mention, or per their requirements can damage your equipment and they would be responsible.

When they did a power recording, did they measure voltage only, or did they measure amps also? If they measured amps, that could confirm or deny the high amp draw per hour the KWH works out to be.

The small utility wire that exists now may be sized to your service or connected load, but if there is something in your home drawing more power that it should, then their wire may be too small, but not through any fault of the utility.

To try to solve this problem without costing for hiring technician, need to get your utility to help as much as possible. You may end up in need of hiring someone to come in and troubleshoot this issue.

The catch is to find the right professional that is capable and not expensive, or can find the problem quickly and accurately.

You cannot use an HVAC tech to find a power problem.

You cannot use just any electrician.Any electrician you hire must be equipped with the proper test instruments, such as power recorders. These can be expensive meters and not every electrician, while adequately qualified, will not own and understand how to use a power recorder.

I may need to know your general location, to help recommend a firm that can help, if you so desire. There is a network of independent contractors that do own and operate the various test equipment that is needed, along with the knowledge of solving power issues.

Again, there is only so much anyone here can do, and only so much we can ask you to do, without getting hands on and test leads connected to solve this problem.

This is a start. Answer my questions and we can go from there.

Thanks to the both of you for your replies. I live in Connellsville Pennsylvania and my electric company is Allegheny Power but they just mereged with another company and they're changing their name back to West Penn Power which is what it was in the early 90's. The furnace guy measured a 15 volt drop in the power with the furnace and microwave running at the same time at the furnace. The power company put a recorder on my meter and took it off after a few days. They said there was a substantial drop in the voltage and they put in a work order to install a bigger wire. I don't know if anyone checked the amps. Nobody seems to agree with me that my increasing kwh is crazy high but you. As for the furnace it is a Nordyne electric furnace with central air.Model #E3EB-020H. The serial #E3E060800123. On the kwh usage graph on my bill I noticed that from April through November the highest usage there is only 2,310. Does it take less electric to cool? Thanks again for your help!!

First of all, well done with your response and details.

Save these for your records:


http://www.nordyne.com/Literature/936b.pdf

http://www.nordyne.com/Literature/7103870.pdf

Ok, we found the power hog.

Your unit is a 20 KW unit, 20,000 watts, and at 240 volts draws 83 amps.

I am an electrician and I will not own one of these.

Depending on the weather, which was no day in the summer this past winter, and how well your home is insulated, and how well the furnace is controlled, I can easily see why you have large electric bills.

I wonder if the utility was informed of the large load. It is possible that they did not know for some reason, hence the small utility line.

A large electric load such as yours, with a wire not sized properly to handle the load plus any distance, will cause dimming and voltage drop.

The utility line needs to be upgraded ASAP, to eliminate the voltage drop, and all utility connections to your home checked, to eliminate any loose or poor connections.

Low voltage does not damage electric heating elements, only motors when too low voltage or depending on how loaded a motor is.

Some of the bill could be due to the voltage drop causing the furnace not to operate at full efficiency, take longer to heat the home, and use more power trying to get the home warm.

Plus add the bad winter, and possible poor insulation as other possible factors.

The one thing I will always recommend for heating systems is a humidifier. It helps a great deal with comfort and keeping the thermostat down.

Replacing the utility line and having the connections checked will help with power quality.

The furnace does need to be checked to be sure it is operating at the best possible efficiency. Thermostat needs to be accurate.

Insulation a problem? Heat loss? A home with electric heat needs to be well insulated. If your not sure, then that needs to be checked somehow.

Anything you can do to use the least amount of power, heating, lighting, everything needs to be looked at.

I hope this helps some.

Hey, thank you so much for taking the time to help! I really appreciate it. Good grief ! It's hard for a girl to get some help these days! LOL.. I guess I'll be pricing new furnaces this summer. Thanks again!!

Your welcome. Let us know how thing work out.

Get that utility line replaced yet?

No. Not yet. I called them and they said they have the work order but they are backed up so it could be another week or 2. They really don't seem to be in too big of a hurry . Thanks again and I will keep you posted. Have a great night!! Paula

If electricity is the only heating fuel available to you, you should replace your air conditioner with a heat pump. You're in a cold enough climate that unless you get a pretty large and efficient heat pump it will have to fall back to the expensive electric heat a fair amount in the coldest month of the year, but a heat pump will cut your usage a lot in the more moderate part of the winter. Don't replace your electric furnace with another electric furnace unless it includes a heat pump, since it won't be any more efficient if your current one is operating correctly.

Hello there! I just wanted to give you an update. I had to call the electric co. again today because the wire has not been replaced yet! They said another week or 2 because they are busy. I am really getting aggrevated! I reported my problem to them on Feb. 3rd ! Geeeeeezzzzz !

Well it's been 3 weeks... no progress yet?

Hey there! Just wanted to give you an update! The electric co. came in mid April to upgrade the line. One of the workers said that an even bigger line should have been ordered and he doubted that this upgrade was going to fix the problem. He was right. Things ran a little better but not a great difference. So, I called them and they are going to come out and upgrade it again. Who knows when that will be. It took them 2 1/2 months to upgrade it the first time. well, that's where I am with this right now. I'll let you know when things change. Thanks again! ;)

Hi. They did finally come out in April but they have to come back and upgrade one more time. Don't know when that will be. It's been about 3 weeks since they ordered the second upgrade.