Normal Electricity Usage?

Question

This is the first time living on my own (having to pay all bills associated with running a house). I just got my electricity bill, and thought it was a bit high, so I thought I would put it to Yahoo answers.

I live with a roommate in a 700 sq ft 1-bedroom. We both work from 8-8. When we leave, nothing gets left on (no lights, no A/C). Our heat & hot water is gas-based, as is the stove & range. We use CLUs (13watts each) for lights, and there are only 5 at that (1 in bedroom, 1 in bathroom, 3 in kitchen). When not in the kitchen, those 3 lights go out, and at bed everything is off. We haven't turned on the A/C yet, as we just open the windows and turn on the ceiling fan in the bedroom and that is usually enough. No TV yet & no computer.

My bill said I used 250 kwH in a span of 14 days. I thought a normal family of 4 in a 2000 sq ft home uses something like 2k kwH per year, and we're on track to use 6k kwH per year at this rate.

Seems high for a gas-based apartment?

I thought maybe some more info might be helpful.

We've done laundry about 5 times on cold/cold, which also means 5 dryer loads too (not gas based). 7 loads of dishes maybe in the dishwasher.

We go to bed no later than midnight, and wake up in time to use natural light for all but the 1 bathroom light, which means lights are on MAX 5 hours a day.

This is in a complex too (about 20 units/building, 10 buildings/complex). I thought the lease stated that public lighting & heating/AC (hallways, entry) were provided by them.

However, I don't have access to the meter, as there is a "meter room" where all meters for the building are kept. Could I demand access to the room to ensure the meter isn't whirling about when everything in my apartment is unpluged? Or that I'm getting legitimate readings?

Also, how do electic companies determine meter readings during a transition in ownership? Do they estimate from the prior reading to the next and base it on days? Or are they required to do a meter reading the day service is billed to a new customer?

Answer 1

Our home used 915 kwh in 31 days for a family of four where 3 of them spend a lot of time in the home, but we don't have A/C.

Do you have a washer/dryer in your home? Dishwasher?

Turn off every breaker in your apartment, and go down to the meter to see how fast it is spinning. (It will turn very slowly, as the meter itself draws power.) Turn on all the breakers again, and see how fast it spins. Unplug everything in the apartment and see how fast your meter spins. If you see a difference, you may be providing power to someone else.

Answer 2

I have a wife and three daughters (19, 16 & 11) and we use from 1250 KW to 2000 KW a month. Our house is 1920 square feet with 1920 square foot basement. Our electric bill averages $200.00 a month. We have gas heat only, everything else is electric. I would consider your self lucky on that low of a bill. We had problems with our bill and found out our dehumidifier was adding $25.00 - $50.00 a month to our bill. Our electric company was really nice and came out to our house and did an electric usage assessment. Maybe your electric company will do the same for you.