My Electric bill TRIPLED!!! Please help (UPDATE)

[aphex]

Ok, as im sure some of you know we had a crappy old A/C unit that was dying about a month ago. We got a local company in and for $2200 they replaced our old A/C with a brand new one. We were also told that the new unit would save us a few bucks on our electricity bill.

The month goes by and we get our bill (normally $150-$175) was well over $450 this month. I go outside and check the meter and its going NUTS! The thing is spinning a full revolution once or twice a second. I then went back inside, shut the A/C off, and went back out to check the meter. The speed of the meter was cut by a over 1/4th. We also checked and in the past 7 days, the meter has gone up over 2,000 k/w...

Anyone know what the hell could be going on?

UPDATE down below.

 

[Evadman]

Wow, big increase.

 

[PsychoAndy]

whaa.......dude, turn off the rigs running seti. that should help. whats the SEER on the unit? air to air? water to air? what kinda tonnage you got now?

 

[aphex]

<< whats the SEER on the unit? >>



If i knew what that meant, i would try and answer ya

I believe is a 1.5ton unit...

 

[LordMaul]

<< My Electric bill TRIPLED!!! Please help >>




It was probably that damn 'Public Aid' part. Did you check it? With the money you spent you could probably have run your computer for an extra 66.3244 hours at an average rate of 242.59921189422116567 kw/m!




:Q

 

[PsychoAndy]

SEER is an effeciency rating. the higher the better. IIRC, the numbers go as high as 20, but i think the highest i've seen is around 14-16 for a residential unit.

how many square feet of space?

 

[ElFenix]

dude... thats a pretty large increase.

 

[aphex]

I think we have about 800-900... Its a 3 bedroom townhouse... Lemme go check the SEER then...

 

[littlezipp]

Maybe you should sell your new Dell to cover it.
But a lappy instead of a desktop will lower your usage.

 

[PsychoAndy]

huh, 1.5 tons for a 8-9 hun sq. foot apartment dosent sound out of the ordinary. thats like really weird tho. call FPL and have them run an analysis or something. they have people that come out and evaluate youre energy use for free.

 

[SilverThief]

Ok, it could be a couple of things.
This first one might be a pain in the butt to do, but its well worth it. have your wife/family member stand outside at the meter while you unplug your major appliances one at a time.
It could be that one of them is going bad, a refrigerator or dish washer, dryer...etc. See if the meter doesnt stop turning abruptly when something is turned off inside.

If you dont find anything there, then I would call the electric company and tell them to come and check voltage at the meter and your meter can, and have them replace the meter itself. Also, have them do an amperage reading on each of the hot legs in your breaker box while the AC is on. That right there will tell you whether or not its you AC unit that is the culprit.
Ive seen meters go bad and they will spin like you wouldnt believe. Also, if they get a high voltage reading (140/280) then chances are the transformer that feeds your house is going bad.

BTW I worked as a lineman for an electric utility, spent alot of my time riding on service trucks fixing the very same thing that is happening to you.

 

[aphex]

<< Maybe you should sell your new Dell to cover it.
But a lappy instead of a desktop will lower your usage. >>



Besides the A/C the only things we have running are 3 computers, 3 digital cable boxes, Water Heater, and some fans...

 

[aphex]

<< Ok, it could be a couple of things.
This first one might be a pain in the butt to do, but its well worth it. have your wife/family member stand outside at the meter while you unplug your major appliances one at a time.
It could be that one of them is going bad, a refrigerator or dish washer, dryer...etc.

If you dont find anything there, then I would call the electric company and tell them to come and check voltage at the meter and your meter can, and have them replace the meter itself.
Ive seen them go bad and they will spin like you wouldnt believe. Also, if they get a high voltage reading (140/280) then chances are the transformer that feeds your house is going bad.

BTW I worked as a lineman for an electric utility, spent alot of my time riding on service trucks fixing the very same thing that is happening to you.
>>



Good idea... But when i turned the A/C off the meter speed dropped to a "normal" level (1/4 of the speed that it was going with the A.C on).... Should i still check everything else??

 

[Squisher]

Definitely call everybody, electric company, contractor, cavalry, whoever.

 

[aphex]

<< Definitely call everybody, electric company, contractor, cavalry, whoever. >>



A nice steed just showed up at my front porch...

 

[SilverThief]

Ok then you said the unit they replaced was old and crappy, chances are the wiring running to the unit and the breaker that feeds it inside the breaker box are just as old.
Might be that the whole meter loop from the breaker box on up to the meter can, out the top of the loop is old and the wiring may be too small for the addition of that new unit.

If your breaker box and meter loop are older than 10 or 15 years, you might need to upgrade it.
ALot of the older loops, before alot of the new elec. codes were put into place, used small ass wiring. Like #4, or #6 which is about as thick as an extension cord.
You go in there and put a new AC unit and suddenly your overloading that wiring. That will definitely cause your meter to spin like a record.

A 3 bedroom brick home with all electric rquires at least 1/0 wiring from the meter loop down into the breaker box. I would suggest you call the electric company and have them come out and look at it. They will tell you exactly what is wrong, may end up charging you a small service charge if the problem is on your side...meaning your breaker box etc..
Better do that before you call out an electrician...who of course is going to tell you that you need to replace everything whether you do or not.
The utlility guys dont make any money off of it, so they wont screw you over.

Hope this helps

 

[Omegachi]

call the guy who put in the ac

 

[aphex]

<< Ok then you said the unit they replaced was old and crappy, chances are the wiring running to the unit and the breaker that feeds it inside the breaker box are just as old.
Might be that the whole meter loop from the breaker box on up to the meter can, out the top of the loop is old and the wiring may be too small for the addition of that new unit.

If your breaker box and meter loop are older than 10 or 15 years, you might need to upgrade it.
ALot of the older loops, before alot of the new elec. codes were put into place, used small ass wiring. Like #4, or #6 which is about as thick as an extension cord.
You go in there and put a new AC unit and suddenly your overloading that wiring. That will definitely cause your meter to spin like a record.

A 3 bedroom brick home with all electric rquires at least 1/0 wiring from the meter loop down into the breaker box. I would suggest you call the electric company and have them come out and look at it. They will tell you exactly what is wrong, may end up charging you a small service charge if the problem is on your side...meaning your breaker box etc..
Better do that before you call out an electrician...who of course is going to tell you that you need to replace everything whether you do or not.
The utlility guys dont make any money off of it, so they wont screw you over.

Hope this helps >>



Very helpful... Well as of now, the A/C dude is on his way over in about an hour to check out whats goin on.... I called GRU (electric company) but their closed now so ill have to deal with them in the mornin.

Thanks for the help!!!

 

[SilverThief]

<< call the guy who put in the ac >>



Go ahead, I'll bet he tells you to call an electrician.

 

[tamade]

This is a very simple problem. I would just open up the meter and tighten the screw that control the speed of the disc. I did this and it cut my bill into 1/4






Just joking. I would stop using the god damn AC

 

[zephyrprime]

No AC unit of that size could possibly consume so much electricity. There must be some sort of short or some other electrical problem in the installation or in the unit itself. Maybe it's short that's going into the ground or something. If there were still some sort of resistance in the circuit that would prevent fuses from being blown immediately, it might be able to draw a ton of juice. (just guessing though. I'm no electrician.)

 

[aphex]

<< I would stop using the god damn AC >>



Thats not exactally an option down here in FL. Its almost 9pm and its still around 83F

 

[randomlinh]

its an option, just not one you'd want to take

 

[ScottyB]

<< Thats not exactally an option down here in FL. Its almost 9pm and its still around 83F >>

I remeber when I went to Florida in February when I was young. We were in shorts and t-shirts and I saw a bunch of people in heavy clothes and some Cubans with winter clothes on, it was so funny.

 

[StageLeft]

That blows. Nothing like throwing money at the power company :|