# Sky-high electrical bills. Can't figure out what's wrong. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 10, 2015, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sky-high-electrical-bills-cant-figure-out-whats-wrong/717334 "2015-04-10T15:14:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sky-high-electrical-bills-cant-figure-out-whats-wrong/717334/21 "2015-04-10T17:47:07Z")
Someone is using your electricity. No way a one-bedroom is using 2-3 kilowatt hours a month. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sky-high-electrical-bills-cant-figure-out-whats-wrong/717334/22 "2015-04-10T18:10:12Z")
> [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](#): > > The electric dryer is our biggest current draw. When weather cooperates, I like to hang things out. Obviously not an option for an apartment dweller. > > I think the issue is that current trickle, plus actually watching TV now, because we can SEE things. But you can hang clothes inside. They sell collapsible racks. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sky-high-electrical-bills-cant-figure-out-whats-wrong/717334/23 "2015-04-10T18:31:28Z")
2300 kWh/month works out to an average ongoing usage of about 3000 watts. That’s like having your refrigerator compressor, heating unit, and water heater running continuously. I’d start unplugging stuff, and seeing what slows down your meter the most. If it’s still clocking up significant usage, then someone definitely needs to look at [something], just don’t know what. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sky-high-electrical-bills-cant-figure-out-whats-wrong/717334/24 "2015-04-10T18:42:59Z")
If you have access to your circuit breakers, it would be interesting to find which one the load is on, leave it off, and see if any neighbors complain that something doesn’t work. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sky-high-electrical-bills-cant-figure-out-whats-wrong/717334/25 "2015-04-10T18:49:45Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > But you can hang clothes inside. They sell collapsible racks. I was going to say, I’ve hung clothes inside when I had an apartment. Didn’t even have a fancy rack, just rang a string through the living room and let things dry overnight. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sky-high-electrical-bills-cant-figure-out-whats-wrong/717334/26 "2015-04-10T19:04:22Z")
> [@yellowjacketcoder](#): > > I was going to say, I’ve hung clothes inside when I had an apartment. Didn’t even have a fancy rack, just rang a string through the living room and let things dry overnight. And I’ve washed my socks in the sink, but it fellates with great alacrity. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sky-high-electrical-bills-cant-figure-out-whats-wrong/717334/27 "2015-04-10T19:25:39Z")
You can buy a meter which you plug an appliance into, and which then measures power usage. But if the problem is the heater, this isn’t going to tell you anything. Someone stealing power is possible, but you should be able to see that by tracing your line to the meter. One thing not mentioned - check to see if you have a smart meter. There have been many cases of these thing being installed incorrectly, broken, or just buggy, and way over reporting power usage. I assume that your are not heating the place during the day, right? If you are, you can get a smart thermostat. And while drying your clothes inside might be a good thing, it is not going to save you any large amount of money a month. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sky-high-electrical-bills-cant-figure-out-whats-wrong/717334/28 "2015-04-10T19:30:53Z")
Not of any help at all in your case, but a friend of mine… Bought a big new house in spring. The first month the power bill was astronomical. He put it down to the routine of getting settled. But the bills kept staying way up there. He trimmed back everything he could think off, but it made very little dent. Eventually called out someone to see what was going on. The guy came out, and they talked a bit, then he walked around the garage toward the power hook up. About 15 seconds later he walked back into the garage and looked around the wall. They he walked out front staring at the ground. Then he walked back to the garage and pointed at a switch on the wall. “Well for a start It’s July and 93 degrees, you can probably turn off the sidewalk and driveway heating” “There’s sidewalk and driveway heating?!” ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sky-high-electrical-bills-cant-figure-out-whats-wrong/717334/29 "2015-04-10T19:38:40Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > You can buy a meter which you plug an appliance into, and which then measures power usage. But if the problem is the heater, this isn’t going to tell you anything. I got one of those for about $20.00 to check on how much the aquariums cost us to run. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sky-high-electrical-bills-cant-figure-out-whats-wrong/717334/30 "2015-04-10T20:30:59Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > You can buy a meter which you plug an appliance into, and which then measures power usage. But if the problem is the heater, this isn’t going to tell you anything. > > Someone stealing power is possible, but you should be able to see that by tracing your line to the meter. Landlord here. I know that in apt. buildings, it is not impossible to access one of your neighbors outlets by cutting thru the wall and tapping into it. Terribly unsafe, but doable. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sky-high-electrical-bills-cant-figure-out-whats-wrong/717334/31 "2015-04-10T21:18:01Z")
> [@DummyGladHands](#): > > Landlord here. > > I know that in apt. buildings, it is not impossible to access one of your neighbors outlets by cutting thru the wall and tapping into it. Terribly unsafe, but doable. My Tenant From Hell wouldn’t pay the water bill, and turned the water meter back on. I paid his water bill so that the meter wouldn’t be pulled. But I digress. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sky-high-electrical-bills-cant-figure-out-whats-wrong/717334/32 "2015-04-10T22:51:49Z")
Thanks everyone! Good suggestions. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sky-high-electrical-bills-cant-figure-out-whats-wrong/717334/33 "2015-04-10T23:04:07Z")
And I know how to turn bothh electric and (natural) gas back on after the provider “turns them off”) - no, I’m not posting that bit. There was a case in FL (it had to be either FL or TX) - two neighbors are buddies when one has a pool installed. He boasted to neighbor how he had tapped the gas line ahead of the meter and was getting the pool heated free. Then there was a falling out… Anyway - yes, illegal taps are quite easy. If your meter is next to your circuit breakers, just start tripping breakers and watch the little black dot on the meter’s wheel. If you can trip your master breaker and the meter is still running, there is either a seriously out-of-kilter meter or an illegal tap. If one breaker shows a huge drop, find out what is on the circuit. If it isn’t a huge consumer, you may have a short somewhere. If it is an intermittent short, good luck. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sky-high-electrical-bills-cant-figure-out-whats-wrong/717334/34 "2015-04-10T23:13:43Z")
You have an electricity leak. You might want to call someone. StG ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sky-high-electrical-bills-cant-figure-out-whats-wrong/717334/35 "2015-04-10T23:47:54Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > My Tenant From Hell wouldn’t pay the water bill, and turned the water meter back on. > I paid his water bill so that the meter wouldn’t be pulled. > But I digress. > 🙂 > [@usedtobe](#): > > And I know how to turn bothh electric and (natural) gas back on after the provider “turns them off”) - no, I’m not posting that bit. > > There was a case in FL (it had to be either FL or TX) - two neighbors are buddies when one has a pool installed. He boasted to neighbor how he had tapped the gas line ahead of the meter and was getting the pool heated free. > Then there was a falling out… Back when I was still renting, the arrangement was that we paid the landlord, and water was included in the bill. That is, until one day that the city came out and turned off the water because the bill hadn’t been paid in months. That was an interesting phone call with the landlord. The more interesting part was when she sent the handyman out to turn the water back on without asking the city. Seeing as we were moving out in a week, we didn’t say anything, but we were somewhat nervous the city would come after the tenants rather than the owner. ---
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sky-high-electrical-bills-cant-figure-out-whats-wrong/717334/36 "2015-04-10T23:55:22Z")
After the water heater was replaced, I noticed my water, electric, and gas bills went down considerably. Apparently the tank had been leaking very slowly and steaming-out through an upper pipe for quite a while. Cold water would fill the tank back up, the igniter would ignite the gas, and the gas would burn until the tank temperature was back up to minimum requirements. Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat.:smack: Once the thing stopped leaking hot water, there was less cold water going in to tell the thermo-whatever to ignite the gas to heat the tank. Then again, you might have a common tank with your neighbors – in which case you shouldn’t be supplying the electricity for it. –G! ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sky-high-electrical-bills-cant-figure-out-whats-wrong/717334/37 "2015-04-11T00:02:02Z")
> [@DummyGladHands](#): > > Landlord here. > > I know that in apt. buildings, it is not impossible to access one of your neighbors outlets by cutting thru the wall and tapping into it. Terribly unsafe, but doable. Time for him to borrow a cup of sugar from the neighbor, then. The apartment explosion in New York seems to have originated from someone stealing gas from a restaurant, removing the tap for an inspection, and then replacing it not very well. Talk about unsafe! ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sky-high-electrical-bills-cant-figure-out-whats-wrong/717334/38 "2015-04-11T00:42:29Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Time for him to borrow a cup of sugar from the neighbor, then. > The apartment explosion in New York seems to have originated from someone stealing gas from a restaurant, removing the tap for an inspection, and then replacing it not very well. Talk about unsafe! The current theory in that investigation is that the landlord was stealing gas from the neighboring building (121, also owned by the same person) to supply gas to the apartments on the upper floors of 123. The restaurant at 123 was receiving gas from their own line which was not sized to supply the whole building, and ConEd was in the process of upgrading their supply, during which the gas-stealing shenanigans allegedly occurred. I second the suggestion to call the power company and ask them to inspect the meter. They really really don’t like people stealing power, even if some other chump ends up paying for it. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sky-high-electrical-bills-cant-figure-out-whats-wrong/717334/39 "2015-04-11T00:53:51Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > A very good idea. You might start by turning off circuit breakers one by one. That’s the slow way. Use a binary tree search instead. Turn off the first half. If the usage doesn’t drop significantly, you’ve eliminated half of your circuits already. Then divide the rest into two halves, and repeat. This can be shown mathematically to be the quickest way to narrow the culprit down. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sky-high-electrical-bills-cant-figure-out-whats-wrong/717334/40 "2015-04-11T00:56:39Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > That’s the slow way. Use a binary tree search instead. Turn off the first half. If the usage doesn’t drop significantly, you’ve eliminated half of your circuits already. Then divide the rest into two halves, and repeat. > > This can be shown mathematically to be the quickest way to narrow the culprit down. Excellent! My idea would best have two people and cell phones. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sky-high-electrical-bills-cant-figure-out-whats-wrong/717334.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sky-high-electrical-bills-cant-figure-out-whats-wrong/717334.md?page=3)