I didn't know what forum this should be in so I decided this one. I just got my NiMo bill and my gas usage went down but my electricity usage went way way up. I am talking quadrupling. The only thing we started using was our dehumidifiers down in the basement. I have two for each sid of the basement. The one is from the previous owner, theother is one I just bought last year.

Could 2 dehumidifiers be drawing that much electricity to cause the usgae to go up?

They do run constantly but I just checked my usage from May 18th (when they said they read the meter) to today. In 1 week the KWH was 202.

Could the way the circuits are wired where the dehumidifiers be hooked to be causing sucha draw? They areon 2 different circuits.

You just might want to check with the electric company. We experienced something similar and come to find out the company had been estimating for quite a few months instead. They estimated too low and when an actual reading was made, we got a surprisingly high bill. I called but only after the electrician came out and verified it wasn't something else. DOH! I didn't even think to check there first! :eek:

I was thinking of calling but wanted to check here first to see if TK or someone had any advice on the electrical. Good thing I am to cheap to call an electrician out to check that. Thanks for the heads up. I may be giving them a call tomorrow.

valinors_sorrow, did you notice if your bill had said actual reading ro estimate? Our bill says actual reading.

Jduke: While it doesn't have the word "actual" anywhere on it, it does say this:

Meter Reading
Current Reading (a bunch of numbers)
Previous Reading (another bunch of numbers)
KWH Used (the difference between the numbers)

It is very exact looking and certainly implies a reading took place to me? :rolleyes:

It was really surprising to me that they are allowed to do this but I looked into it and apparently they are and they informed everyone they were doing this way back in some minor insert which I usually don't read anyhooooo?? :(

PS - I have since then received bills that were extremely small too, same principle in reverse, I supposed. I don't like this but there isn't much I can do about it, is there?

The next thing you know, we'll be required to fill out some little cards with the numbers ourselves and send 'em in! :mad:

Do you have National Grid? We have had new meters installed that I guess they scan to get the reading.

One thing you can do is tell them you didn't sign up for the budget plan, if that is in fact what you don't have. I know I have not signed up for the budget plan so they should be taking actual readings.

Thanks for the info.

Check your meter for any leak through, if it has any age to it.

Simply shut off all power to you main box, go to the meter watch to is if it turns at all. If it does the meter may be the problem.

Mr. Yet, I would think sense it is a digital meter it would have to be fairly new, right. I think they only started putting them in within 3-5 years ago. After I call National Grid and see what they say, I'll check that. Thanks.

Lets get the 202 Kilowatt/hour reading into perspective. KWH is a product of multipling Kilowatts by hours, or power times time. There is 168 hours in a week, 7 full days.

To achieve reading of 202 KWH , if a load were to run the full week, will only need a load of 1200 watts to run each of the 168 hours.

1200 watts / 1000 = 1.2 KW times 168 hours =201.6 KWH

Or there can be a load that only runs half of the 168 hours, 84 hours.
I would need a 2400 watt load to run the 84 hours to arrive at the same 202 KWH.


1200 watts at 120 volts is only 10 amps. THis can be done by running a toaster , or 12- 100 watt light bulbs for a full week. Obviously, no run runs a toaster or 12 light bulbs 24 hours a day 7 days a week. But you are running two humidifiers 24/7. Each unit probably draws 2 amps each.

4 amps at 120 volts = 480 watts per hour x 168 hours= 80.64 KWH

80.64 KWH , if the cost per KWH is $0.10, (ten cents per KWH) = $8.06 to run the two humidifiers all week ,24/7.

Now I am sure you are using other electrical appliances, lamps, etc. during the week. And since these items are only used when needed, you would only need an average of 722 watts per hour to run all week to add up to 202 KWH.

To help further to explain how to run up an electric bill, a typical electric oven heating element is about 2500 watts. If you were to bake a cake an hour, each day of the week, this would total 17.5 KWH.

You state your KWH usage has quadrupled, meaning you were using an average of 50.5 KWH per week, or a total of 202 KWH per month, before you began running the humidifiers all day. This shows that you hardly use anything electric during the month.

The 80.64 KHW per week for the humidifiers totals 323 KWH per month, leaves 485 KWH per month, or an average of 121 KWH per week. If your average usage was 50.5 KWH per week, other items have also contributed to doubling your normal usage per week, before the humidifiers were used.


I hope this helps to illustrate how the usage adds up, and that the best method to reduce usage is to keep electric appliances off. You can check units that run automatically, such as electric heat, fan motors for gas or oil furnaces, refrigerators, air conditioning, electric hot water, etc. to be sure the temperature settings are kept as low as possbile to feel comfortable or keep food cold.

TK, thank you for all that info. It makes sense what you had said sense I call National Grid and in a nutshell she said the same thing. The other stupid thing I didn't realize is that I was running one of the dehumidifiers near the sump pump. That's where the previous owners had it so I just left it since it is the only outlet available to use. I turned them off yesterday to see if that would make a difference.

After looking at it and I am sure you were alluding to that I exaggerate as I just looked at the graph they gave. When I looked at the numbers it was from 393 (approx) to 792 (approx). That probably would sound more realistic with your calculations. Plus we haven't done anything abnormal with the electricity other than the dehumidifers.

I did run the machines 24/7. I try to keep it at a level where it will turn off at times but can't seem to find the level.

I guess long and short of everything is that the dehumidifiers were the culprit. I didn't relaize it since I only started them 2 weeks ago.

Just to clarify, there is nothing with the wiring that could be done differently that would help the usage? I believe there is only one outlet hooked to the breaker and that outlet is pretty old which I am planning to replace soon.

I really appreciate you taking the time to give me all the info. This will give me a good reference point for other things. :)

There is no rewiring that will affect usage. All devices must be wired so they run safely.

I thought so but I knew you were the one to ask. Thanks TK.

Loose connections and voltage drop are situations that can cause usage of wasted energy, however, is usually negligilble when in small amounts.

Large commercial or industrial buildings are sometimes inspected for such issues, as the usage is so large, a loose connection that creates heat does add to electrical usage that can be eliminated, more for the purpose of safety to prevent fires and damaged electrical equipment, than saving on the energy bill, which can be an added benefit.

Do you think I should bother checking the meter for leaks as mr. yet had suggested? Then again after looking at your calculations, I probably have been using that electricity. I will definitely be looking more closely to what each uses and how I can reduces the usage. Now I am running into the problem of having to run the window air conditioners a lot.

Let me ask anyone here: I live in Upstate NY and I have been paying around $180 last month and this month between gas and electric. Is this about what everyone else is paying?

A "leak" can occur if you live in a multi-family home, where someone else may have something in their space wired to your meter. This can happen occaisionally, usually by accident.

You can shut off your main switch and note if anyone else has lost power. You could also check to see if everything in your home is off, if not, then you are connected to someone else.

There have been cases of a meter seeing a short circuit or loose connection as a load, and causing usage to be abnormally high, however, these conditions usually create heat that truns into smoke, damaged electrical equipment, and sometimes fire.

I cannot give any opinion on your utility bill as I do not live in NY. I can offer that you should breakout your gas from electric to compare both individually. And you should be sure to compare with someone that has similar appliances, square foot of home, and quantity of occupants. Utility bills are unique due to many factors.

Thanks TK. You have been very helpful in this matter.