I have cabin in northern Michigan we alway we have never had an electric bill over $80.00 even when we are there for a couple of weeks. We always shut the power off when we are not there. Last fall we were there for a couple weeks and our bill was almost $200.00 This spring I find out that our neighbor who shares a transformer with us was having electrical issues found out he had a bad grounded conductor ( ie neutral ) after his meter. Does anyone think that there is any possibility that somehow his power was back feeding through our meter causing an inaccurate reading?
High bill
- Thread starter Stepfink
- Start date
winnie
Senior Member
- Location
- Springfield, MA, USA
- Occupation
- Electric motor research
Unlikely.
Most residential meters ignore the neutral, meaning they only measure line-line voltage and line currents.
Have your electrician look for ground faults through loads which limit current. For example a faulty heating element in an electric water heater leaking current to ground (did you notice your hot water was hotter than usual) or a fault in a well pump or the like.
Jonathan
Most residential meters ignore the neutral, meaning they only measure line-line voltage and line currents.
Have your electrician look for ground faults through loads which limit current. For example a faulty heating element in an electric water heater leaking current to ground (did you notice your hot water was hotter than usual) or a fault in a well pump or the like.
Jonathan
Didn’t notice anything unusual on our side.I know the neutral is usually not metered wasn’t sure about smart meters. Just thought that maybe because he didn’t have a neutral that his power was going back to the source through one of the hot legs and possibly through our meter. I have seen bad neutrals do some funky things.
- Location
- Chapel Hill, NC
- Occupation
- Retired Electrical Contractor
Are there any underground branch circuits or feeders that could be potentially shorting into the earth?
- Location
- Chapel Hill, NC
- Occupation
- Retired Electrical Contractor
Water heater perhaps bleeding to ground but not enough to short the breaker?
Going to bring my amp meter with me next time up to do more checking. Just talked to my neighbor up there and found out about his issue and that peaked my interest. I have been a master electrician for 35 years and nothing surprises me anymore especially when it comes to lost neutral's
- Location
- Chapel Hill, NC
- Occupation
- Retired Electrical Contractor
Lost neutral will put high er voltage on one leg and lower voltage on the other. Something like 180v and 60V. It should always add up to your system voltage- in my case I used 240V
hillbilly1
Senior Member
- Location
- North Georgia mountains
- Occupation
- Owner/electrical contractor
How well do you know the neighbor? He may have lost power, and ran a cord off your power while waiting on his to be fixed.
POCO catching up to today's economic climate ? 
Do they actually read your meter or is is a smart meter ?
Our POCO still manually read some of the rural meters and they are bad about simply billing based on the previous bill and then playing catch up a few times a year.
Do they actually read your meter or is is a smart meter ?
Our POCO still manually read some of the rural meters and they are bad about simply billing based on the previous bill and then playing catch up a few times a year.
They never have estimated reads before in the 20 years we have had it and they did install smart meters a couple years agoPOCO catching up to today's economic climate ?
Do they actually read your meter or is is a smart meter ?
Our POCO still manually read some of the rural meters and they are bad about simply billing based on the previous bill and then playing catch up a few times a year.
Are you looking at the $ amount on the bill, or the kw-hr used? Even without an amp clamp, you can look at the meter with things turned off and see if it is counting. If not, turn things on one at a time and see if the power usage is reasonable. Do you have a smart meter that your power company allows you to monitor remotely? If so, keep track of your kw-hr usage by logging in each day when you're not there and see if something strange is going on (sudden power use, slow leak, etc).
zbang
Senior Member
- Location
- Roughly 5346 miles from Earls Court
Whenever someone says "high electric bill" I tell them to forget about the total and go to the usage and billing details. Has the usage changed? Has the cost changed? Are there new surcharges/etc? Just forget about the total once you see it's different.
- Location
- San Francisco Bay Area, CA, USA
- Occupation
- Electrical Engineer
Bingo. If the dollars changed, but the kWh didn't, then there's your answer. If the kWh changed, that's different.
If the kWh changed, go back to the water heater (assuming electric). If, while you were there with the power on, there was a leak in the hot water system somewhere, that may only show up in the electric bill, because the water bill is averaged out over longer periods (if you even have utility water service).. Even a small leak can result in a lot of energy use.
readydave8
re member
- Location
- Clarkesville, Georgia
- Occupation
- electrician
The ones I fixed were usually due to something staying on or coming on too frequently, once it is a dehumidifier that ran continuously
Waterlogged bladder tank making well pump short cycle, leaky check valve at or in well, and what everyone else said
Have had heat pump problems causing high bill but usually in winter, related to strip heat
Been advised to check refrigerator door gasket, but I don't think that's ever been the problem
Waterlogged bladder tank making well pump short cycle, leaky check valve at or in well, and what everyone else said
Have had heat pump problems causing high bill but usually in winter, related to strip heat
Been advised to check refrigerator door gasket, but I don't think that's ever been the problem
TX+ MASTER#4544
Senior Member
- Location
- Texas
- Occupation
- electrical Code instructor and mentor
Somebody meter tampering while you're gone?
Is your meter a smart meter or is it the old fashion kind that have the dials?
There's some wattage leaking somewhere if none of the above.
Electric meters read watts. Watts are heat.
TX+MASTER#4544
Eddie702
Licensed Electrician
- Location
- Western Massachusetts
- Occupation
- Electrician
LOL
Eddie702
Licensed Electrician
- Location
- Western Massachusetts
- Occupation
- Electrician
The op shuts the power off when they are not there. That eliminates a bunch of stuff.
Did they bill you for electricity while you had the power off?
That bill would tell a lot about what was going on.
Did they bill you for electricity while you had the power off?
That bill would tell a lot about what was going on.