[ellen324]

My husband and I lived in our single family house for 25 years and he always complained about our electricity bills but never did anything about them. We're now divorced: I've kept the house, am living here alone and am paying all the bills. I got my first electric bill this month and about had a coronary - for 47 days of usage, 997 KWH! My mom lives nearby and she averages about 400 KWH for the same amount of time.

There's nothing excessive going on here - I have an old refrigerator (older than 15 years old) and I work out of the house so my computer is on all day, but other than that nothing but a light or two and a TV. I have oil heat and gas hot water, stove and dryer, and I pay for oil & gas separately (i.e. neither is included on my electric bill).

The electric company did a meter reading and their reading is correct, but how could I be using the electricity of what's basically TWO households? COULD I be paying for someone else's electricity? Could the meter be faulty and reading at double the rate it should? How would I know?

What can I do? PLEASE HELP!!

[JudyKayTee]

Will your electric company come to your house and perform a usage test? When my bill appeared high to me they came out, checked the entire house and told me that my chest freezer was causing the bill to be higher than usual.

They are the only ones who know if your meter is faulty - and it appears they've already been out and looked at it.

I've never been able to compare my bills to anyone else's because, like you, I work out of the house and very often have both computers running. On the other hand, I watch very little TV and my friends do watch a lot.

[tkrussell]

Breaking down the 997 KWH into something simple, and keep in mind this is only an average 997 KWH by 47 days by 24 hour per day gives 883 watts per hour. Not saying what this means, but that is a low amount.

The 47 day cycle is normal? Most times you get use to the 30 day billing cycle and 47 days can be startling.

A 15 year old reefer is possibly not running well due to dirty coils or poor sealing doors, so is suspect to being any energy hog.

Only you or a visual inspection by an electrician can answer if someone is connected to your power. A single family home is rarely connected to someone else.

There are many appliances that seem normal, but use power unknowingly, such as water coolers, not only have a refrigerator but often have a water heater for hot water. Some single cup coffee makers have a heater that run often. Dehumidifiers use a lot of power.

What runs all day?

[Tev]

It could also be possible that they were doing estimated readings and then you took a hit when they did an actual reading, likely as the result of some change such as the account being transferred over to you from your ex. Is there a usage history on the bill somewhere?

[ellen324]

Thank all of you for your answers.
JudyKayTee, I plan on calling the phone company this week and having them come check. I'm also going to get my electrician to come check for me.

tkrussell, remember, I live alone, so that amount is pretty huge. I also doubt that an old 'dirty' refrigerator is going to add 600 or so KWH per month, no matter how 'dirty' or old. Nor are any small, 'miscellaneous' items going to add that many KWH.

And Tev, I too thought they might be estimated readings, but it states right on the bill that they're actual meter readings. My ex probably has all the old bills, maybe I can get them for him for comparison, but he used to complain about the electric bill too, so there probably hasn't been much change.

[KISS]

Might you have a sump pump that's running a lot?

[KISS]

Take (1000-400)/47/24 is about 531 W an hour

Sump pump running all the time would be a good guess.

[ellen324]

Nope - I don't have a sump pump, and I don't have well water, so no pump there either. Seriously - I'm running no major electrical appliances aside from my refrigerator, my computer and my TV. My washing machine broke last year and I haven't replaced it yet, so I'm not even running that. Everything else is gas, except for the heat which is oil.

[KISS]

500 W an hour is a lot.

What I'd might suggest doing. I read the electric meter, say at 15 minute intervals when nothing is supposedly operating and then start isolating circuits.

Do none to get a baseline. Whatever you can read on the meter.

Do all the double breakers except the main first.

Then do half the single breakers.

Figure out what half is drawing the power.

Then do half of that side.

If it is a single circuit, you should find it pretty quickly.

Like 128 breakers would only take 7 tries.

[ellen324]

Thanks for the suggestion, KISS, but hopefully the power company and my electrician will be coming this week so I'll leave that up to them to figure out. I just went out to look at my meter again and aside from a 'whirring' horizontal wheel with a black mark on it, nothing was moving (it's all dials), so I'm not sure I could figure it out anyhow.

By coming and checking, will the power company be able to tell me if I'M actually using that much electricity or not?

[JudyKayTee]

The electric company WAS able to tell me that the meter was correct.

Please come back and let us know what the answer is.

[KISS]

Counting the number of revolutions in a time frame would work.

[ellen324]

That's what I thought I'd have to do, KISS - I just thought there might be a better/simpler way. I'll give it a shot.

I see you're in NY, Judy. I am too (LIPA) so hopefully my power company will be able to give me the same info yours gave you.

I'll come back and post as soon as I have any new info... Thanks again for your help!

[KISS]

Yep, not enough resolution on the dials, but there is a black mark on the spinning disc. So time, say the amount of time it takes to make n revolutions.

Your looking for a BIG change. You may not even have to count.

[ellen324]

Something just occurred to me. Your answers have been very helpful, but there's something that hasn't been addressed at all. So at the risk of sounding paranoid, I'm going to ask this: if someone WERE hacked into my electrical (and I was paying for their electricity), where exactly would they be hooked in? Obviously out by the utility posts, but in order to be getting their electricity onto my meter wouldn't they have to be connected to my breaker box as well? If so, then yanking all my breakers is an exercise in futility, because I'd be yanking their usage too. Does anyone know what a hacked electrical line would look like and how it would basically function?

[KISS]

They would have to hooked in downstream from the meter, so if your meter runs with the main breaker yanked, you have a REAL problem.

Not futile at all, although a case not explicitly considered.

[JudyKayTee]

That's what I thought I'd have to do, KISS - I just thought there might be a better/simpler way. I'll give it a shot.

I see you're in NY, Judy. I am too (LIPA) so hopefully my power company will be able to give me the same info yours gave you.

I'll come back and post as soon as I have any new info... Thanks again for your help!

I'm the other end of the State but I'm sure LIPA will be helpful - I was quite impressed with my local company!