How to Cut Your Electric Bill in 1/2 from DIY

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mdshunk said:
They guy's "before" electric bill was 600 some odd dollars. Wow.
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my average electric bill is about $500 year round...some months higher, some lower...oh, yeah, my house is all electric, with a well and septic:D at least I don't have any other utility bills

anybody got some spare magnets?
 
i believe the power company aroundwhere i live monitors customers with electrician licenses bills to make sure there is nothing funny happening. i could be wrong but the guy at work said that
 
I know of 2 EC's in the past that have been caught stealing power...one went to jail, one became an inspector...go figure...
 
mdshunk said:
I've never even been tempted. My average electric bill is around 60 bucks.
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$60 wow. Mine in the summer is $130ish with a $30 nat gas bill. Winter $100ish along with a $150 nat gas bill.

Don't get me started on water. Water here is ridiculous....we're paying avg $70/month. There's only 3 of us here....and one is only 18 months old!!!!!!!!!!
 
I don't get it in 2 areas:

1 The utility will turn a profit, and if some cheat, it costs the rest of us more. Just like insurance fraud

2. the wire and water seem useless, as they cannot help establish a magnet circuit. May as well hang 'em on string
 
mdshunk said:
I've never even been tempted. My average electric bill is around 60 bucks.
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Mine's about the same. But I live alone and have CFLs in the two lights I use most often, the office and the one over the sink (can serving as a nightlight). Keeping the lights off is a big shot in the arm, and I have a programmable thermostat.
 
RayS said:
the wire and water seem useless, as they cannot help establish a magnet circuit. May as well hang 'em on string
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I'm with Ray. does anyone see any theoretical basis of the wire and the cup and the water? I surely don't.

I do know that at least some of the older meters have an internal adjustment that is used to calibrate the meter. Because of slight differences which occur during manufacture, there will be slight differences in the fricition in the bearings, etc which will cause the meter to give a somewhat incorrect reading. There has to be some way for the manufacturer to calibrate each meter as it leaves the factory. The way this is done is the adjusting screw is attached to a small magnet. The magnet applies a force to the rotating wheel, and can vary the friction, which adjusts the speed of revolution.

So, there may be a way for a large magnet to make this friction greater, thereby making the meter turn slower, but what if you get the large magnet placed in the wrong spot and it decreases the friction?

The paragraph above is purely anecdotal. But do not try this at home. It is illegal. And it may not actually even work anyway.
 
The post was not meant to suggest or condone.
I thought people might get a kick out of what kind of information the DIYers are exchanging on the internet.
Don't they realize that this would never work as suggested.
They need to use waxpaper and Perrier water if they expect decent results.
 
I know this was only for our entertainment but if, by some reason, this did work then no matter how you look at it, it's theft of service.

I do a lot of electrical work for a medical building here in my town. About 20 years ago two of the Dr's purchased the building from another Dr (who has since passed away). The POCO meter reader stopped in one day and informed the new owners that they were stealing electricity and would have to pay back-charges. I was called in to prove or disprove these charges. The 3 phase service came in through the rear of the building into a disconnect switch, out of the disconnect into a trough and out of the trough into 3 meter cabinets. Only the first meter cabinet had a meter in it. This is the condition in which the building was purchased. Apparently, over the years, new electrical work was done to accommodate tennant spaces on the basement level and new breaker panels were installed near the other two meter cabinets. They probably would have gotten away with stealing the service had some dork not piped into the side of one of the two spare meter cabinets. When the meter reader came around and noticed this he opened each of the two unmetered cabinets and found that they were jumped out with # 10 wire. The line sides were bugged into the load side of the disconnect and were not metered in any way. Long story short, the Dr's had to come up with $16K immediately for 6 prior years of estimated service they stole even though they purchased the building in the condition it was in.
 
electricalperson said:
i believe the power company aroundwhere i live monitors customers with electrician licenses bills to make sure there is nothing funny happening. i could be wrong but the guy at work said that
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Yep, all PoCo's keep an eye on licensed electricians. 'Cause "BIG BROTHER" is watching us!

They know when you are sleeping, they know when you are a wake. They know when you've been bad or good, so you better be good for goodness sake!
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That video ticks me off anyhow. So much false information out there. I'm going to make my own video of the methods that actually work. ;)
 
They should have just cut the seal, pull the meter and put it in upside down. That would have been much more interesting to watch... :grin: :grin:


On a side note, I was replacing the feeders on a meter main combo before. I pulled the meter, did the work and when i put the meter back in and turned on the main.. it no longer spun. Still dont know why it just 'died'. Ended up having to call POCO and have them replace it.


~Matt
 
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