I need help figuring out why my electric bill is so high...

[mtbazz]

I've been using a ton of electricity and can't understand why...

During winter my monthly usage seems to be between 2500 and 3000 KwH, winter it's lower (but still high) at around 1500 KwH (this past january i put extra effort to keeping things turned off and it got down to 962 KwH).

My grow:

1000 watt HPS
6 tube (4 foot) T5's
small squirrel cage fan to exhaust the HPS heat
In addition I run a bucket cloner 24/7

House:
Oil fired furnace with temp kept at 60 dg in winter
A/C usually set at 72-75 in summer

Other than that just the std appliances that are run 2-3 times a week. Dishwasher, washer/dryer, range, etc...along with a couple of computers that are on anywhere from 8-10 hours a day to 24 hours depending on what Im doing.

 

[OGShaman]

Is your electric bill prorated?

 

[mtbazz]

Is your electric bill prorated?

nope

 

[moses wellfleet]

You know that a/c draw huge amounts of power right?

 

[mtbazz]

You know that a/c draw huge amounts of power right?

yes...but its winter now and I am not using it.

january it was not used at all and i still used more than it seems i should...962 Kwh

 

[jesusofCAnnabis]

what kind of ballast, Magnetic or digital?

 

[Robrites]

You can save a lot of power by
putting a sleeping bag over your hot water heater and turning it down to the lowest setting.

 

[mowood3479]

Idk if this is possible in ur situation but since I refused a smart meter a few years back they only come check the meter like 3x a year...
So often I get bills that don't really have a correlation to the power I'm currently using.
Just a thought

 

[IndicaIsland]

You can save a lot of power by
putting a sleeping bag over your hot water heater and turning it down to the lowest setting.

Works for me.

 

[Jhhnn]

I recently went from a 1000w system to two 315w CDM's & couldn't be more pleased. Power consumption is down 40% & they honestly seem to grow just as well.

I've also been switching to LED's for household lighting as prices have come down. Even if you rent they're a good idea because you can just save the old lamps, put 'em back when you move out, take the LED's with you. I'm contemplating occupancy sensors (motion detectors) for some rooms because my family tends to leave lights on everywhere.

Refrigerators & freezers suck power like crazy if the coils are dirty, if the door gasket doesn't seal tight or if they're older models.

A kill-a-watt gizmo can help identify power hog appliances-

http://www.amazon.com/P3-P4400-Elec...121&sr=8-1&keywords=kill+a+watt+usage+monitor

The power factor function is a good diagnostic tool for finding weak capacitors in core & coil ballasts, another source of inefficiency. You want .90 or higher.

As always, you have to spend money up front to save more down the road.

 

[stoned-trout]

atleast you don't live in san diego where tier 3 is 40cents kwh...we are going solar 14 panels with an option to add 6 more,,,then theres the garage roof too....yeehaw...electric companies are crooks ..I pay over 150$ just in fees..distribution fee,bond fee ,maintain fee ect

 

[TNTBudSticker]

Couple of Computers?

Turn them all off when done.

My bill is almost $10.00 more a month if I leave the computer on all day,everyday.One Computer,350Watts.
Can't imagine having 3 or 5 computers all running which could be about $50 a month.

 

[HidingInTheHaze]

Just a few things to look at that eat a ton of electricity that no one really thinks about.

TV's consume a huge amount of power, those big screen tvs everyone suck even more
Cable boxes, dvd players etc.. are on all the time sucking power. All of these mentioned items consume power even when they are "off".

You can drop the bill a few bucks a month by putting your TV and associated items on power strips and turn the power strip off when leaving the house or going to bed.

Other things to look at could be your thermostat, if you have an old outdated t-stat it could measure temperature inefficiently causing the blower on you furnace to run more often. Upgrading to a new digital t-stat can help it run more efficiently.

Dryers and electric ranges are 2 of the biggest consumers in the house, if you are doing more home cooking or laundry it can cause a spike.

Another thing to consider is the water heater, water heaters consume thousands of watts, doing more laundry using the hot water setting can drive the cost up. Also water heaters have a thermostat on the side of them, you can lower the water temp a little bit to help cut costs.

Refridgerators, check the temp setting on the fridge and the freezer chances are both could be lowered to save some.

Change out light bulbs from cfl to LED can shave a few watts off the usage.

Seal up your leaks in your house to conserve heat and A/C.

 

[Jhhnn]

Couple of Computers?

Turn them all off when done.

My bill is almost $10.00 more a month if I leave the computer on all day,everyday.One Computer,350Watts.
Can't imagine having 3 or 5 computers all running which could be about $50 a month.

Modern computers draw very little power in sleep mode so I insist that ours be set to do so quickly when nobody is using them. The idle current in cable boxes, routers & wall warts really adds up, too, because most just use a transformer rather than a chopper type electronic power supply.

The kill-a-watt meter I mentioned earlier really helps to quantify power usage, lets me better balance convenience & expense.

 

[stoned-trout]

on demand water heaters kick ass....yeehaw..first thing to go was old water heater...fridge don't use much juice if newer model and you aint leaving door open a lot of putting in too much warm things...switching all light bulbs to led will save you more than you would imagine!!! but $$$ buying them sucks...believe me at 40 cents a kwh I am trying everything till the solar is done and that's gonna be a few months before completion...the electric companies tier system and digital meter is screwing me..i am on tier 3 by like the 8th of the month WTF?????..I have paid more for electric here than I did a studio apartment once...lol

 

[Pinball Wizard]

Thank god for FDR & TVA. 0.10 kwh, anytime.

They put a smart meter on my house about 4 years ago and my usage dropped 10%.
Southern Man really didn't need that meter man around every month, anyhow.

 

[mtbazz]

what kind of ballast, Magnetic or digital?

dig

also hot water is an oil fired hot water heater...so that uses little electric to run..

yeah, i've thought about a kill-o-watt meter to help with this, but I am seriously gadgteded out and am trying to avoid spending money on something that will get minimal use..trying to see if i can borrow one from work but that may be more trouble than it's worth.

It's simply mind boggling. house is probably 1600 sq ft, its just a rancher and I am using 3x what my neighbors use...starting to think something is amiss electrically somewhere. the well pump was my first guess, but if that was the problem i'd hear that running all the time right????

 

[MJPassion]

You may be able to check outca kill acwatt meter from your local library. I've seen that in a couple places...