Normal for KWH to double in winter?
#1
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Normal for KWH to double in winter?
This winter my electric bill has double in KWH used. From Oct. to Nov it went from 1352 kwh to 2661 kwh, is this normal? I assume it's the heater because that's the only thing different from past months. To me my bill is extremly high for my 1,100 sq. ft home. The maint. man they send out over and over says nothing is wrong...but this is a guy who says the wind doesn't blow at night, so I really don't believe him much. Not sure where to start, I'm a renter, please help!!
#2
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That's a lot of electricity. I live in a small condo, and use about 350KWH per month. But we are all gas. I assume you are all electric.
Just taking a stab at some numbers: IF you have electric strip heat, and lets assume it is a small 5KW unit: If it ran 5 hours per day, that would be 25KWH per day, 750 KWH per month. SO your number, higher than that , is not out of the realm of possibility. Also, your hot water may cost more this time of year due to greater heat loss and colder incoming.
Just taking a stab at some numbers: IF you have electric strip heat, and lets assume it is a small 5KW unit: If it ran 5 hours per day, that would be 25KWH per day, 750 KWH per month. SO your number, higher than that , is not out of the realm of possibility. Also, your hot water may cost more this time of year due to greater heat loss and colder incoming.
#3
Originally Posted by shdwmac
From Oct. to Nov it went from 1352 kwh to 2661 kwh, is this normal?
Shut off and unplug everything and turn off your heat then make sure your meter is not spinning.
3000 kWh for heat would not be a surprise at all.
Power company should have you on electric heat rate schedule.
#4
What electrical appliances do you have? I suspect electric heat, water heat, and cooking. Do you run space heaters or window air conditioners with heat function? All of those really suck up the juice.
#5
If you have an electric water heater, a large component in winter electric usage is the longer, hotter showers that people tend to take in the winter. As already stated, space heaters are also huge energy users (and generally unsafe to boot).
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kwh jump
shdwmac,
i agree with the answers posted thus far, in particular to 594 tough, cold water going into a apartment/rental unit water heater ( not the largest water heaters in my experience) really taxes it's ability to keep up with demand, but without any other info that you can provide us, such as heating system, is the rental total electric? have you not noted that the days are shorter in the winter, thus you may be using more kwh for lighting? also more people are more prone to go out in the summer months than they do in the winter (it's cold outside). give us a little more info on your situation and we will try to nail this down. and just a question, how do you know that the maintenance person knows if the wind blows at night? we all thought that it was every third tuesday. and by the way, since you are a renter there isn't much that you can do except move.
barry
i agree with the answers posted thus far, in particular to 594 tough, cold water going into a apartment/rental unit water heater ( not the largest water heaters in my experience) really taxes it's ability to keep up with demand, but without any other info that you can provide us, such as heating system, is the rental total electric? have you not noted that the days are shorter in the winter, thus you may be using more kwh for lighting? also more people are more prone to go out in the summer months than they do in the winter (it's cold outside). give us a little more info on your situation and we will try to nail this down. and just a question, how do you know that the maintenance person knows if the wind blows at night? we all thought that it was every third tuesday. and by the way, since you are a renter there isn't much that you can do except move.
barry
#7
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I live in New England. My house is all electric, 1800 s/f and fairly well insulated. In October my KWH usage was 862 KWH, ($114). Last month (20 Dec- 20 Jan) my usage was 2682 KWH ($363). This is with the avg daily temp higher than normal.