Question about outrageous electric bill?!?

Status
Not open for further replies.
M

mgotgame

Member
I am going with my boss tomorrow to look at a house that has an outrageously high electric bill... It is a 2300 sq ft. house, fairly new appliances, a pool (no heater, jacuzzi, or anything special), and no special loads of any kind, and we are going to try and figure out what could possibly be making her electric bill $800-$1000 a month. Just curious if there were any reasons her bill might be that high, or if there is any similar situations any of you have run into in the past.... Thanks for your comments and time in advance!!
 
Start simple. Check the A/C thermostat, trying to keep the house at 68 degrees? Water Heater Thermostat, temp. set high to get hot water at far end of house?

Just as an example: My elecric bill doubled for June, yes it was hot and my A/C ran constantly. A friend of mine who does A/C work did some checking and found my return air duct was split and pulling in hot outside air instead of recirculating inside air!

Of course there may be some electrical problems, I would check these 'simple' things first.

Gene
_____________________________________

Remember - Speed Kills and it may not always be you
 
I did hear of one house that had a very high electric bill for years, when the owner decided to remodel he opened the wall and found a nail through an NM cable into a piece of foil backed insulation that was touching a water line. Not enough to trip a circuit but enough to run the bill sky high.
 
mgotgame said:
I am going with my boss tomorrow to look at a house that has an outrageously high electric bill... It is a 2300 sq ft. house, fairly new appliances, a pool (no heater, jacuzzi, or anything special), and no special loads of any kind, and we are going to try and figure out what could possibly be making her electric bill $800-$1000 a month. Just curious if there were any reasons her bill might be that high, or if there is any similar situations any of you have run into in the past.... Thanks for your comments and time in advance!!
Click to expand...

they're running a farm operation they can't tell you about. ;)



[edit- my recollection of the story originally posted was slightly off] - Link to local newspaper story about a grow house stealing power
 
Last edited:
brantmacga said:
they're running a farm operation they can't tell you about. ;)



[edit- my recollection of the story originally posted was slightly off] - Link to local newspaper story about a grow house stealing power
Click to expand...

There was a dandy Holmes on Homes episode about someone doing that. The potheads core-drilled through the foundation and tapped the UG feeders to the house before the meter (presumably while hot).
 
grich said:
There was a dandy Holmes on Homes episode about someone doing that. The potheads core-drilled through the foundation and tapped the UG feeders to the house before the meter (presumably while hot).
Click to expand...
I saw that one. Wow. :cool:
 
Ebow said:
Start simple. Check the A/C thermostat, trying to keep the house at 68 degrees? Water Heater Thermostat, temp. set high to get hot water at far end of house?

Just as an example: My elecric bill doubled for June, yes it was hot and my A/C ran constantly. A friend of mine who does A/C work did some checking and found my return air duct was split and pulling in hot outside air instead of recirculating inside air!

Of course there may be some electrical problems, I would check these 'simple' things first.

Gene
_____________________________________

Remember - Speed Kills and it may not always be you
Click to expand...
I don't see how your return duct would pull in hot outside air even if it was split or broken or whatever since return air ducts don't have a path to the outside air (at least not any that I've seen in a house). Could you explain please?
 
A customer of mine had a high bill for 3 or 4 times and then called me. As I checked the meter turning and turned off the breakers the well pump was the problem. The pipe had ruptured in the well, the pressure was still OK in the house but would not build enough to turn it off. The water was going back in the well so there was visible signs. The pump ran 24/7 with a higher than norm bill.
 
steelersman said:
I don't see how your return duct would pull in hot outside air even if it was split or broken or whatever since return air ducts don't have a path to the outside air (at least not any that I've seen in a house). Could you explain please?
Click to expand...
Well my return duct runs through the attic, so if it was split it would draw even warmer air than the outside temp. Were does your return duct run?
 
DAWGS said:
Well my return duct runs through the attic, so if it was split it would draw even warmer air than the outside temp. Were does your return duct run?
Click to expand...
Oh I didn't even think about that! Mine does not run through the attic, most likely because I don't have an attic furnace. But yes now I can understand that happening if one has an attic furnace as I have definitely seen many of those. Mine is in the basement and the duct just runs straight up through all the floors with a return register in the wall on each level.
 
If the house has an electric water heater, there may be a leak in the hot water supply line. Water lines leaking under a house slab, for example, may go unnoticed for long periods of time. Look for a warm spot in the slab floor.
 
Where are we ??? how does this compare to other houses similar size with similar electric appliances??? If this house were in Texas with standard lamps for lighting and A.C. I'm not sure what outrageous would be ??

Did this bill all of a sudden spike from say a standard of 200$ ??

I heard tell of a guy that found a wire buried in the wet fertile soil of Massachusetts ,..left there connected for a future post light as being the the cause of a high electric bill .
 
gary said:
If the house has an electric water heater, there may be a leak in the hot water supply line. Water lines leaking under a house slab, for example, may go unnoticed for long periods of time. Look for a warm spot in the slab floor.
Click to expand...
I've never heard of the hot water supply pipe running underneath the slab of a home!!! Who would do that?
 
There are a lot of ranch-style homes built on a slab with hot/cold lines ran under the slab. Real common when using Pex. Just finished a church where they put over 1000' of Pex under the slab and stubbed it up for toilets and sinks.
 
steelersman said:
I've never heard of the hot water supply pipe running underneath the slab of a home!!! Who would do that?
Click to expand...

Millions of people living north of the Mason-Dixon line. They like having toasty warm floors. It's also done for ice-melting in driveways and walkways.
 
amptech said:
There are a lot of ranch-style homes built on a slab with hot/cold lines ran under the slab. Real common when using Pex. Just finished a church where they put over 1000' of Pex under the slab and stubbed it up for toilets and sinks.
Click to expand...
Wow! I've never know about that.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top