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Somehow we're using an insane amount of electricity, ideas?

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You might want to check your local Home Depot. They rent FLIR cameras and you could use one to see if there's any massive heat loss from your home.
 
Does your new place have:

- Halogen spotlights? Those itty bitty lights that were all the rage a few years back can use absurd amounts of power.
- A plasma TV? They use much more power than LCD.

You should get a Kill-A-Watt and measure your devices.
 
Ken g6 said:
Does your new place have:

- Halogen spotlights? Those itty bitty lights that were all the rage a few years back can use absurd amounts of power.
- A plasma TV? They use much more power than LCD.

You should get a Kill-A-Watt and measure your devices.
Click to expand...

Just incandescents. We had a few CFL's in the old place and we don't here... but we don't really leave lights on in general.

We have the same plasma TV as before, but it is probably watched a bit more.
 
Seems a no-brainer to put a little gas heater in the garage, or even a pellet stove. Anything is better than electric heat, at $.25/KWH especially.
 
Scouzer said:
Yeah. I have a garage freezer--same one I had in the old place.
Click to expand...

The reason I ask, if a freezer/refrigerator is forced to run at or around freezing it actually becomes highly inefficient and may cause the compressor to run almost constantly.
 
Schmide said:
The reason I ask, if a freezer/refrigerator is forced to run at or around freezing it actually becomes highly inefficient and may cause the compressor to run almost constantly.
Click to expand...
I find this to be a rather extraordinary claim, on what basis do you make it?
 
Just do the math yourself, at 1500w on all day you are using 36kwh a day, times 30 days in a month and you are over 1000kwh
 
How many floors in your complex? If numerous, are you are on the same floor?

I'll explain- I moved into an apartment and had a horribly high bill for heat. This time i was on the top floor and apparently the ceiling/roof insulation sucked.

If in your previous location you had someone above you that (roof insulation) may not have been a concern.

Scouzer said:
Unfortunately it's a digital meter that only updates on in full kWh increments.
Click to expand...

Is it possible to take a reading for a full day, then turn off the garage electrical heat for a day and take another reading so you can compare?

Fern
 
Well, Im in a 2350sqf house, and last month we used about 750 kwh @ $88 after taxes. AC is on intermittently now too. We're not hard core conservationists either. Looking at the hottest month last year we used about 1200 kwh. AC was on almost non stop.
 
why do you need to heat the garage? you understand garage is not insulated to the same standard as inside the house right? 20C?? yeah, your garage used up the electricity. Just turn off the breaker.
 
Scouzer said:
In February I used 1100 kWh with the garage heater set to 20 degrees while it was -20 outside.

In March I cranked the garage heater to its lowest setting--10 degrees--while it was 0 degrees outside. I used 1200 kWh.
Click to expand...

Three extra days in March compared to a non-leap year February. At 1200/31, that's 38.7 kWh/day.

Your house also got bigger. And from the sounds of it, you're in a really cold part of Canada that requires a block heater for your car? That's my guess on why you need the garage heated at all.

Otherwise, if you don't have a basement, don't underestimate how much heat can be lost through the floor. Frost penetration can be 1.5m or more in northern parts of Ontario, which means that it gets to 0 C 1.5m below the ground. Even if you have a basement, it could lose a lot of heat just because older houses don't usually have insulation, but especially basement floor slab insulation.

Switch your incandescent bulbs CFLs or LEDs if you don't like fluorescents.

Also, my house usually consumes about 1200-ish kWh per month during the winter. It's 1200 sq.ft. plus heated attic and basement (2400 sq.ft. effective?). It's warmer in the south though.
 
sdifox said:
why do you need to heat the garage? you understand garage is not insulated to the same standard as inside the house right? 20C?? yeah, your garage used up the electricity. Just turn off the breaker.
Click to expand...

My garage is the common entry point for the city water for my row of townhouses. There's 8 units worth of exposed water piping in there... So not heating it is definitely not an option!

homebrew2ny said:
Are they taking readings or just estimating?

Seems like they may be estimating based off the past tenants usage?
Click to expand...

Smart meter, so every bill is actual.

Imp said:
Your house also got bigger. And from the sounds of it, you're in a really cold part of Canada that requires a block heater for your car? That's my guess on why you need the garage heated at all.
Click to expand...

It's funny you mention the block heater. We powered 2 block heaters like crazy last year since we had no garage, and this year I haven't plugged in once thanks to the garage.

I did not mean to have it set to 20 celsius when I bought the place--it was preset by the builder and in the chaos of a new place I never thought about it. It's set to 10 now and my bill is still astronomical.
 
Scouzer said:
My garage is the common entry point for the city water for my row of townhouses. There's 8 units worth of exposed water piping in there... So not heating it is definitely not an option!
Click to expand...

That's bullshit. Unless I'm misunderstanding, shouldn't you be paid to keep the garage warm so the pipes don't freeze?
 
If your bill is $300 a month (?), would it be worth it to go to Home Depot, buy some insulation for the pipes, and just turn the heat down to <5 C? Or talk to your townhouse board about having them pay for it?
 
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