POWER BILL SEEMS HIGH

[802MARK]

OK I MOVED TO A NEW HOME, AND EVEN THO THE BILL DOESN'T SEEM TO BE MUCH, COMPARED TO OTHERS AROUND ME MINE IS 6 TIMES AS HIGH. I DID FIND A GROUND SHORT IN A OUTSIDE LIGHT WHERE THE POWER WAS SHOOTING INTO THE GROUND CUT THAT LOOSE AND BILL WENT DOWN ABOUT 60.00. OVERALL MY BILL RUNS AROUND 400 U.S. PER MONTH. I have a 4 bedroom home, but only two people live here. I cook with gas, no heater system, one 12k BTU a/c. two fridges, lights, microwave, hot water tank, ceiling fans, washer and dryer. so what can I do to find out if I have another grounding problem? I have cut loose everything outside, I have changed the main power box, had the power company come out and run new wires, and my home still is far more then others the same size. no one is hooked into my power that I can find. thanks for any help.

 

[James]

A good local electrician should have the kit to prove what power is being drawn from each circuit.
I would start there.

 

[MJPD29]

Clamp each circuit see what it's drawing

 

[Marvo]

As above, you really need to get an electrician in for maybe an hour to do some testing. Unfortunately without the right test equipment there's not much you can do to trace this kind of problem once you've been around and visually inspected the installation.

Earth (ground) faults would usually cause a circuit to trip or fuse to blow, they'd rarely cause a slow steady consumption of power.

A few of the usual suspects you could manually check for are things like hot water leaks (or wet insulation around the water heater), pumps that are constantly running or broken door seals on your fridge. If you don't see anything obvious you need an electrician who's got good testing experience.

 

[802MARK]

thanks for the replies, I have brought in two and they couldn't find anything, not sure how good they were and what testing gear they had tho. Panama Central America isn't known for top guys. the ground draw was from a old yard light, that had a plug box at the bottom, and it rains here about 5 months out of the year. when I talk about higher bill, my buddy has a home as big as mine, he runs the same stuff but he also runs 2 huge a.c units all the time. his bill will be in the below 100.00. mine are always 300 to 450. per month. If there was another home close I would think they have tapped into my power, but that isn't the case. thanks again, I will start looking for someone good with the right testers to find the draw.

 

[Taylortwocities]

We are located on an island at the Eastern edge of the Atlantic Ocean.
So unfortunately we aren't able to come round and have a look!

 

[plugsandsparks]

Start with the meter, take readings every day, also of course compare with the bill o make sure you are paying based on meter readings no estimates.
When you are happy with your daily readings, you can start to say leave the a/c off for a few days etc, also of course you need to ensure your meter does not move at all when all power is off. you can do all this yourself over a period of time - hope this helps

 

[802MARK]

We are located on an island at the Eastern edge of the Atlantic Ocean.
So unfortunately we aren't able to come round and have a look!

well that's not a good enough reason.. lol

 

[802MARK]

yes I have the read out on kWh use for the whole year, the thing is we have not added or subtracted anything during that whole year. Aug. 2026, 1693 1010 1276 1598 1517 1356 1277 795 1014 1293 1231. and where we live it is always 69 to79 degrees so no up tick for more a./c power.

 

[802MARK]

what is the name of the meter I would need to buy to check each line, I would like a clip over the wire and the display shows what the watts draw would be on that line, like 300 watts on a dryer. thanks again for all your ideas. this has been going on a long time and I AM really wanting to get to the bottom of it.. If I am using that much so be it no problem, my power bill in the u.s. would run 800 or more a month, because I had a huge home with a.c. but here this months is 276.00 with little use of anything, and others bills on their homes more then half my bill using more. so that is why I am hunting the problem.

 

[James]

Clamp meter for measuring current on individual cables

UNI-T UT210E True RMS AC/DC Current Mini Clamp Meters w/ Capacitance Tester: Amazon.co.uk: Amazon.co.uk:

Free delivery and returns on all eligible orders. Shop UNI-T UT210E True RMS AC/DC Current Mini Clamp Meters w/ Capacitance Tester.

www.amazon.co.uk

Energy monitor, so you can see your total usage through the day.

geo Minim Energy Monitor - Self-Installed - CT Clip Sensor for Single Phase Electricity Meters: Amazon.co.uk: Amazon.co.uk:

Shop geo Minim Energy Monitor - Self-Installed - CT Clip Sensor for Single Phase Electricity Meters. Free delivery on eligible orders of £20 or more.

www.amazon.co.uk

There will be similar items available on Amazon.com for you to find.