Outside of normal consumption, are there any reasons that can cause electricty bills to skyrocket?

Question

My air conditioner is off all day while I'm at work, and only on 78 degrees when I'm home. We do not have natural gas, just electricity. We only wash/dry a couple loads of clothes and do one load of dishes each week. Our nieghbors, in the same building, pay no more than $90 per month (we average $140-$150), and run thier air conditioning all day. WHAT IS CAUSING THIS?

My apartment complex sent a matianace person who said nothing was wrong and that we were just complaining. We had the air conditioning checked out, it was fine. Someone told us that it could be a leak in the hot water heater under the foundation. I'm in North Florida and live in the first florr of a 3 story, shaded unit, if it helps.

Answer 1

The Big Three - electricity eaters:
1) A/C air
2) Fridge
3) Water Heater
More humidity causes my ac to work harder.
I suspect fridge or water heater.

Try replacing heating element in hot water heater - when they go out - it is like a direct short - heavy current draw. Also check and compare your last years water bills for usage spikes, this may show a leak.
Start a log: read your meter before work and after every day. Log your neighbors while your at it. (prob next to eachother).
Turn off circuit braker for water heater 2 days a week.

Answer 2

Isn't it obvious? One of your neighbors is stealing electricity from you somehow. Look for an outlet that can be accessed from the outside or something.

One disturbing possibility is an outlet from another apartment might be wired into your unit by mistake.....reducing their bill and increasing your bill by the amount used on that outlet. If it is hooked up to an air conditioner, the amount would be substantial.

Here's what to do. When you are away at work during the day, trip the master breaker in your apartment, shutting off all electricity. Then wait and see who complains to management that their air conditioner is no longer working. Once discovered, they have a legal obligation to rewire it correctly.

Answer 3

I too was upset about my electric bill. My girlfriend had $40 bills while mine was $120. She has lights on and t.v. in two rooms I have none of those things going all the time was frustrating.
My one son moved out saved me 20.00 a month. Now there are just two adults.
My refrigerator was small but seemed to run alot. I got a brand new huge side by side and my bill dropped huge there.
My friend went through the whole house and put those bulbs that save electricity. You know the funky ones that look like coils.
WELL MY LAST BILL was 46.00
New fridge and the lightbulbs are absolutely paying for themselves.

Answer 4

back to basics:
Rather than look at the cost of your bill , look at the power that you used in kWh- compare to previous bills
ask the power company to send you a print out of what time of day you use power compare to above
does your power co. have different rates for different times of the day
what is your hot water temp?
And lastly basic rules of thermodynamics:
there is no such thing as cold only the ab sense of heat
So you get home from work , your house has been baking in the sun all day- temperature in your living room is what 98 ? set your ac for 78 removing 20degrees of heat over night, wake up the next day and do it all over again. .
try this leave your ac on 74 all summer
starting and stopping in anything electrical or mechanical inevitably leads to pre mature component failure.

Answer 5

ok, if your house is warm when you come in, then it takes twice as much energy to cool the room even at 78 degrees. the neighbor its correct in leaving the air con open at a low setting ( 80 degrees), uses less energy. dryer use alot also try air drying them, so does dishwashers, hand washing dishes and airdrying will cut costs. if you have alot of electrical appliances then it will also affect the bill, remember that even if you don' t open and use it, electricity always run through. unplug if not in use. don't over load the washer too.

Answer 6

You should get one of those regulating thermostats. The reason your bill is going up is because your ac unit has to work overtime every single day to cool the place down to 78 degrees. Your best bet is to have your place cool down to 68 at night and then program it to be at 72-74 during the day. The 68 at night will help conserve energy during the hottest parts of the day.

Answer 7

That really sux and the same thing has just happened to me!!!I turn of everything when I leave the room and the air stays at the same temp!So call an electric company and have them send someone out to check the thingy majig!

Answer 8

During the summer they up the price normally so that it reduces the demand for electricity, If it cost more people will use less. They do this so that they are not over loaded during the hot summer months, this lowers the risk of black outs and brown outs.

Answer 9

The screws holding down the breakers in your breaker box may be loose, which wastes current much like current is wasted when a lamp is not plugged into the wall all the way.

My advice is to have a qualified electrician come out and see what your problem is - it will save you money in the long run.

Answer 10

Have your meter checked by the electric company. If it helps, we're going through the same thing in our apartment. Our neighbors in the same floor plans are paying aprrox. $80/month and ours is averaging $200.